Revenge is a Dish Best Served Hot
by twifantasyfan
Summary: Bella's homecoming wasn't anything like she expected.  Seeing her fiance cheat on her made her think "revenge is a dish best served hot".  AU/AH.
1. Unexpected Homecoming

AN: I know this isn't an update to "Jagged Edges Heal", but I have inspiration here, and not there, so a new story it is. I am trying to get the next chapter of "JEH" done as soon as I can.

This was started as a discussion on the "Writing Challenges" thread on the Jacob-Black-N-Pack site, with the Carrie Underwood video "Before He Cheats" as the inspiration point. I'm not sure how long this will be, but I'm envisioning a short story rather than an epic. Hope you enjoy.

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Bella POV

I stared out the front windshield of my car and tried to make my world return to its former shape. It was fortunate for me that I knew this road like the back of my hand, and that it was mostly a straight shot between Forks and La Push, because my eyes were so full of tears that I was blind to everything. I knew that I should pull over until I was under control, but I couldn't take the chance. I wanted to reach the safety at the end of this road, and not run the risk of _him_ catching up to me on the shoulder.

I dragged one arm across my face, dashing away some of the tears with my sleeve. With slightly clearer vision, I kept going. Pushing the pedal down as far as possible, I managed excellent time on the trip—a definite advantage of the car over my old truck. I wasn't even ashamed of speeding, or worried about getting caught; one advantage of being a cop's daughter was that the blue code applied to me, too. Once I reached La Push, I turned the car onto the road that wound through the forest and up near the top of the cliffs—a favored diving spot by the local youths. I parked at a crooked angle, not really caring what my dad might say if he saw it—but then again, if I told him _why,_ my parking arrangements would be the least of the situation.

I dropped the keys onto the seat and pressed my face into my hands. A touch of coolness made me pull back and regard my hands more closely. Staring back at me, mockingly glinting in the unusual glow of sunlight, was the diamond ring I'd worn for three months now. The ring given to me by my fiancé, Edward Cullen.

Edward and I had started dating in high school, only weeks after I'd moved to Forks from my old home in Jacksonville, Florida. My mom had remarried a year earlier, and I'd felt like I was encroaching on her newlywed bliss. Besides, I hadn't spent much time with my dad, and this was the perfect way to kill tw_o_ birds with one stone and make both my parents happy before I went to college. Edward and I had graduated high school and gone off together to the University of Washington. We'd been blissfully happy for the first two years, until Edward decided that he needed to change majors—and schools, too. I was locked into a major that I loved, and had too many credits that wouldn't transfer, so I hadn't been able to follow him to Cornell. We'd had a long-distance relationship our final two years of college, writing letters for snail mail, emailing, texting, and Skyping, plus visiting each other on breaks.

We'd both graduated this spring. Edward had surprised me by flying out unannounced for my graduation ceremony. I'd been thrilled to see him, and hopeful of being reunited with him permanently now that we were both done with school. At the culmination of my graduation party, with many of our friends and our entire families watching, Edward had gotten down on one knee and proposed with a gorgeous 2-carat diamond ring. Surprise had been a good description of my reaction—it wasn't how I'd envisioned my proposal…

"_Everyone here has been such a major part of our lives," Edward told me. "It didn't seem right to do this any other way than with them here to witness this moment."_

I'd said yes, and started dreaming about wedding ideas. Ideas for a wedding that now would never happen. Watching the ring sneer at me, I wrenched it off my hand, dropping it on the seat beside the keys. I shoved the door open and slid out, slamming it behind me. Then I started walking toward the cliffs. Reaching the cleared stretch along the edge, staring out at the ocean waves below, I wondered why I hadn't seen something like this coming. Was I some kind of naïve idiot? Was I blind and oblivious to what was right in front of me? I didn't know.

Edward and I had both moved back to Forks to spend a little more time with our families while we looked for jobs and figured out what would come next for us. When I had tried to talk with Edward about even simple things like a date for our wedding, a location, a budget…he hadn't wanted to commit to anything definite.

"_We don't know where we'll be working, Bella. Or what kind of vacation time we'll have available. We can't set a budget before we know what kind of salaries we'll be making."_ He'd had one reason after another, even when our parents offered to cover the entire cost of the wedding as a gift to us and after they suggested location and venue options. I'd tried to believe that his points were all valid ones and that we didn't have to decide everything right away. I'd tried to just enjoy being with him, and spending time with my dad and some old friends when Edward had to go out of town for job interviews.

Most of those old friends had been from the nearby Quileute Reservation of La Push. Jacob Black was almost two years younger than me, but we'd spent time together as kids anyway, even though his older sisters were only a year ahead of me; they'd been girly girls, and I most decidedly hadn't been. Jake's two friends, Quil and Embry, had been his faithful shadows, almost like the Three Amigos—or more accurately, the Three Stooges. Just watching their antics was enough to lift my mood. For some reason, though, Edward had never gotten on well with my tribal friends so my two spheres tended to be separate ones.

This week had been my turn to travel to an interview down in Texas. The job was a good one, and I thought I'd done well in the interview. There were lots of advantages to the area, and I knew that there would be lots of options for Edward, too. I'd found a few possibilities that I couldn't wait to share with him. Since I hadn't been sure exactly when I would be flying back into Seattle, I had driven my car—a 21st birthday gift from Edward—to the airport. I had ended up with an earlier flight and had stopped in a favored lingerie store to find a surprise for my fiancé; instead, I'd been the one to get a surprise. I'd pulled into the driveway of Edward's family home, and felt my heart flutter at the thought of the private reunion about to begin.

But there hadn't been anyone in the living room, the kitchen, the family room…the entire first floor of the house was utterly silent. I'd heard some music coming from upstairs and followed its audible path toward Edward's third-floor bedroom. Had he set up an alert for my flight and was waiting with a romantic surprise of his own?

Oh, he had, alright—just not for me. I'd opened his door, letting it swing back on silent hinges. But the happy smile on my face had faded into disbelief when the sight before me finally registered. Edward was on the bed, naked, and on his knees. His ass moved back and forth, pulled by the hips driving into the moaning female on her hands and knees in front of him.

"_Harder, Eddie, harder! Make me scream!"_

"_Tanya! You feel so good, so tight! I've missed this, missed you, missed burying myself in you."_

He'd thrust a few more times and shouted as his body jerked in release; Tanya screamed, too.

So had I—I'd called him a lying, cheating bastard. Maybe one day I'd find it funny how he'd shot up when I announced my presence, whipping around to display his rapidly deflating cock. Maybe one day, but not today. I'd stared at his horrified expression, at her smug one, and then bolted. Somehow I'd stumbled down the flights of stairs and back to my car. I'd managed to get back onto the highway before the tears had started to flow.

I'd known who Tanya was, of course. She'd been at Cornell, too, and in the same major as Edward. They'd had most of their classes together and been paired up more than once for projects and presentations. But I'd never had a clue that their relationship had been anything other than that of classmates and friends. Never had an inkling that their connection had turned physical at some point. Now, I was forced to question everything. When had I stopped being enough for him? When had he started sleeping with her? Why had he kept dating me? Why had he proposed to me? Was she why he hadn't wanted to start planning our wedding? Had he seen her since graduating? Was he even going to interviews, all those times he flew out of town, or was he going to see her instead? Had she come here to be with him every time _I'd _gone to an interview?

Sinking to the ground, I felt the next wave of tears and sobs begin. How long I stayed there, crying, head buried in my folded arms, I don't know. My first clue that I was no longer alone came when I lifted my head and started to wipe my face off again, only to realize that my sleeves were soaking wet.

"Probably won't work so well. Try this," a voice told me. A cotton t-shirt appeared in front of my face.

I nearly fell over as I whipped my head around to see who had spoken. Paul Lahote, La Push's resident bad boy, and a classmate of my childhood friend Jacob Black, crouched beside me. The shirt was obviously one he'd been wearing when he arrived; its removal put an impressive six-pack on display. Paul and Jacob hadn't really been friends, but they'd known one another—hard to avoid in a town and school as small as La Push. He hadn't come up very often in my conversations with Jacob, but I did remember hearing that he'd started a construction company with a couple of other rez guys: Sam Uley and Jared Cameron.

Paul jiggled the shirt at me again and I slowly reached out a hand to take it. I scrubbed it over my face, then regarded him as I let the shirt rest on my knees. He definitely looked like someone who did a lot of hard labor. Heavily muscled arms, one of which sported a circular tattoo near the shoulder. Ripped pecs and abs. A lean waist that disappeared into a pair of cargo jeans—jeans that encased his thighs like a pair of gloves.

"S'up, Swan? What's got you out here bawling your eyes out?"

I didn't answer. Why, indeed? I was the one who'd been cheated on, so why was I crying like _I_ was the one who'd done something wrong?

"Come on, now, it's got to be something."

I shrugged, but still didn't say anything.

Paul shifted, and pulled some things out of his thigh pocket: my keys, cell phone, and the ring. "Found all this on the passenger seat in your car. You weren't thinking about jumping, were you?"

"No," I whispered. "I just didn't want to carry them; no pockets." I gestured to the classy yet comfortable clothes I'd worn for flying. Leaping off the cliff might have been a fine dramatic gesture in literature, but I doubted that Edward would be the one hurt most if I did it—my parents, my friends…plain and simple, he wasn't worth it.

"I get that for the keys and phone, but why the ring, too? Thought girls didn't like to take something like this off." He held my things out to me, and I took them. I noted, but ignored, the message on my phone's screen informing me of the dozen calls I'd missed. The phone and keys I dropped to the ground, but I held the ring between my thumb and first finger.

"You ever think about giving a girl one of these?" I asked randomly.

"Hell, no, girl!" Paul snorted, settling down next to me. "That's more commitment than I'm after, at least right now. Down the road…who knows? But I'm footloose and fancy-free right now, and enjoying every minute of it."

My lips quirked in an almost-smile. That was very much like what I knew about him.

"That's better," he noted, approvingly. "So, you feel like answering me now? What's the deal with you being up here crying your eyes out?"

I wasn't sure why, but somehow the look in his dark brown eyes seemed to compel me to respond. "I caught an earlier flight home from my job interview," I began, and then shared the rest of the day's events. Paul actually growled when I related finding my fiancé in his childhood bedroom, fucking the living daylights out of his college classmate.

"That bastard!" Paul's fist pounded the ground between us.

"Yeah," I agreed. "I just can't figure out how I didn't see it. Or why he let things get this far with me when he was with her, too. I mean, it's not like I was sitting there in front of him with my hand out, demanding a ring. I was totally surprised when he proposed. But ever since, it's almost been like he didn't really want to do it." I pressed my hands against my eyes. "I just can't figure anything out anymore."

"So what are you going to do now?"

My phone rang, and I glanced down to see that it was Edward calling me. I ignored it, and gave Paul another look-over. "I'm not sure. You have any ideas?" I'd had my cry at having my heart broken. So what _was_ I going to do now?

His brows lifted and his mouth quirked as he took in my perusal. Then he looked me over in his turn. "Oh, I always have ideas. Question is…are you interested?"

I reached out and trailed a finger along the outlines of his abs. "Why don't you ask me and find out?" I had a pretty good idea of what kind of ideas he had, because I was having them myself.

His hand moved up to cover mine. "You sure about this, Bella?" Brown eyes met brown, direct and unflinching.

I did as he asked, and considered this situation. I was asking someone who, though not a complete stranger, was at least no more than a passing acquaintance, for sex. Why did I want this? Well, he was hot and sexy—I'd have to be dumb and blind not to see that, not to have always seen that. Was I asking for this only out of wounded pride? No, I decided, I wasn't; pride was part of it—I'd be honest about that—but it wasn't the only reason. I was angry as much as I was hurt. I didn't deserve something like this. I'd had plenty of interest directed my way in the last few years, from classmates and friends of friends, offers to go out for drinks or for study dates. But I hadn't paid them any more attention than I had during high school; I'd been committed to Edward and to our relationship. I'd told him about those guys and how I'd handled them—proof of my loyalty across a whole continent. And _this_ was how he repaid me? By cheating on me with a convenient classmate? How dare he?

"I'm sure."

Paul vaulted to his feet and extended a hand to help me up. He kept hold of my hand as we walked back to the parking area. I was surprised to see that my car was the only one there.

"I was out running," he explained when I sent him a questioning glance.

He managed to fit into the passenger seat of my car, but had to push the seat all the way back to do it. Once we hit the main road, he gave me directions to his house. Like his body, the house also bore the stamp of his occupation. Unlike many males I knew, he kept his place clean and tidy. I used the cover of looking around to ask myself again if I was sure about doing this. Edward was the first and only man I'd ever had sex with. Was I turning this into a tit-for-tat arrangement? Cheating on Edward just because he'd cheated on me? No, it was different. He'd betrayed my trust, but he'd also become someone that I didn't know anymore. I'd been rash in accepting his proposal, feeling the pressure of our watching audience, but he'd been rash, too, in proposing if he wasn't completely certain about it. Should I call or text him before doing this, to make our breakup official? I didn't want to—I knew if I did it that Edward would come rushing down, and I wasn't about to let him interrupt. Besides, I'd taken his ring off earlier, and didn't plan to put it on ever again.

"Forget what I said on the cliffs, Bella. We don't have to do this," Paul had stayed remarkably quiet while I'd done my thinking.

"I know we don't have to. But I want to."

"So do I," he admitted.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Paul closed the distance between us, hands moving to my hips to pull me closer. As my body came into contact with his, I could feel a heavy weight pressing against my stomach. Oh, yeah, he was interested, alright. We stood in the middle of his living room for a long time, just swaying back and forth to the music playing in the background. The firm pressure against my belly started having an effect on me. My heart rate increased, breathing quickened, and a tingling began in my core.

"Paul," I murmured. "Take me to bed."

"Damn right, I will," he answered. He picked me up and I automatically wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Legs," Paul told me. I lifted them and locked my ankles behind his back. This new alignment of our bodies had him almost—almost—right where we both wanted him to be. Paul put his powerful muscles to work, and thrust lightly against me.

"Move," I commanded. He moved down the short hallway at an almost blinding speed. Inside the bedroom, he dropped me on the bed with enough force that I bounced a time or two.

"Strip, girl," Paul gave his own command, and started following it himself. He was already partway there, having not put his shirt back on when we'd left the cliffs. I couldn't help watching the play of his muscles as he sat on the edge of the bed and bent over to unlace his boots. My fingers flew at lightspeed to strip off my shirt, shoes, and pants.

"Come here," Paul's finger crooked at me. I walked on my knees over to the edge of the bed. His fingers began to trace over my skin, igniting a burn inside me, a burn that far surpassed anything Edward had evoked in me in quite a while. "Uh-oh" he commented, when his roving fingers encountered my panties. "Someone didn't follow directions."

"What are you going to do about it?" I purred.

One of his hands lightly slapped the cheek of my ass, then his hands framed my hips…and yanked. My panties tore into fragments of fabric. I'd no sooner registered that fact than I realized his hands had gone north and popped the clasp on my bra. Paul slid it off my arms and threw it somewhere in the room. When his hands closed over my breasts, I groaned loudly.

"Like this, huh?" he asked, circling my nipples with his fingers and pinching lightly.

"Mmmm," was all I could manage.

Paul pulled me to him again, and the sensation of full skin-on-skin contact had my eyes rolling back in their sockets. I could almost feel the moisture dripping from my core.

"You feel so good," Paul whispered. His hands caressed my back and kneaded my ass again before moving again to press me backward until I was lying on the bed.

"Be right back," he told me, moving along the side of the bed and opening the nightstand drawer. I was almost ashamed to admit to myself that I hadn't thought about protection. I was on the pill, so I knew I was safe regarding pregnancy, but that wouldn't cover diseases. I didn't think Paul would be doing this if he knew he had something, but neither one of us had any guarantees where Edward was concerned. Now that I thought about it, I was pretty sure he hadn't worn a condom with Tanya today.

Paul seemed to be on the same wavelength. "I'm clean, Bella, but I don't expect you to take my word for it." He hesitated, so I said it for him.

"I was fine at my last check-up, but Edward…"

Paul leaned over me and pulled me up for a hard kiss. "We aren't going to think about him tonight. I don't mind wrapping up this time. But after your next check-up…we will definitely give bareback a try."

The idea that this might not be just a one-time event sent a strange thrill through me. Maybe I'd been blinded by Edward in a different way than I'd thought—I was trying to figure out why I had never noticed Paul this way before. Or rather, I'd noticed him, but now wondered why I'd never thought of doing anything about it.

Protection in hand, Paul joined me on the bed. He pressed me back against the pillows and moved to straddle my prone body. His long, thick cock was standing rigidly away from his body, brushing against my curls.

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Paul POV

I moved to crouch over the woman lying in my bed. Bella Swan was lying in my bed. How good it felt surprised me.

I'd known who she was for a few years now. She'd been friends with Jacob Black, and her dad Charlie had been friends with our chief, Billy, for most of their lives. But even though I'd known who she was, I hadn't known Bella. I'd thought she was cute, but we didn't run in the same circles, and nothing had come of my observations. She'd spent most of her time with her boyfriend before going off to college. Then when she'd come back—a total hottie—she'd had a rock on the finger. I had a strict avoidance policy where committed girls were concerned, and probably wouldn't have given my old musings any consideration if I hadn't found her sobbing on the cliffs today.

When I'd come across the car, and had seen the purse, phone, keys, and ring on the seat, I'd felt an unexplainable sense of panic. The cliffs at this spot were the highest around, and a sheer drop straight down to the ocean. Even those of us who enjoyed cliff diving weren't crazy enough to jump from this point. I'd run full-out for the cliff-edge, and had staggered to a halt in relief when I'd seen her huddled on the ground. Even though it wasn't really my style, I'd wanted to know what was wrong and what I could do about it. Then, when I'd heard what that douche-bag of a fiancé had done to her…part of me had wanted to go chase him down and tear him apart—or at least castrate him. How could he do something like that to the woman he claimed to love and to want to marry? I'd met him once, and I'd've suspected him of being gay before thinking he'd be a cheater.

I'd almost choked when Bella had asked me if I had any ideas of what she could do now, and again when she'd indicated she wanted to take me up on my ideas. I gave myself a momentary kick for having avoided her for so long, and resolved to make up for lost time.

I lowered my body closer to hers—I think we both jolted with the contact. I claimed her mouth with mine, savoring her lips before plunging my tongue into her mouth. I devoured her, imprinting the feel of my skin onto hers. Then I started to move down her body, worshiping every last inch of her, wiping away every last memory of the douche-bag. I used every last trick I'd ever learned to keep my body in check until I'd fully seen to her. When the need to claim her started to press against my control, I pulled back long enough to open the condom and roll it down onto my cock. Protection addressed, I slid back up her body, seizing her lips again and bringing my cock up against her drenched opening. I eased in carefully, accompanied by Bella's moans; when she seemed to take me easily, I pulled almost completely out and then slammed in hard. A scream tore from her throat. I set a hard and fast pace, pulling cry after cry from her. When her body clenched around me, my own shout was just as involuntary. Her hair tossed wildly, blinding us both. I knew I was close, and reached down between us to give her that extra nudge of sensation to hurtle her off the edge; as soon as she went over, I followed her.

"Wow," Bella managed when she had come back to reality.

"Thank you. Thank you very much," I offered a deliberately over-the-top Elvis impersonation, and got a punch to my shoulder for it.

"Ha-ha. Actually, I think I'm the one who ought to thank you."

I twisted until I was sure she could see my eyes. "This wasn't me offering you pity sex, Bella. This was two legally consenting adults—two hot and sexy consenting adults—showing their mutual appreciation for one another. And just in case you were wondering, I meant what I said earlier about doing this again."

"I'd like that," she replied. "I feel like I got my eyes opened, and now I can see all the possibilities that I was blind to before." The look in her eyes spoke volumes about me being one of those possibilities.

I wasn't usually one for sticking around after sex, being more the love-em-and-leave-em type; but tonight, and Bella, wasn't usual, even without considering that this was my house. Cradling her against me, I drifted off to the thought _I can't wait to do that again. _Yet, I did want to do this again—and do it with her, specifically. There was something hot about being someone's grudge-fuck, even more so when it was someone like Bella.

I woke up some time later to a dark house and a pounding on my door. I grumbled, but rolled out of bed and pulled on a pair of boxers before heading out to answer it—hopefully I could get there before whichever of my idiot friends was outside woke Bella up. I grabbed the knob, opened the door, and froze. Edward Cullen was on my front porch, fist lifted to pound on the door again.

"Cullen," I said, in a cool and level tone.

"Where is she?"

"She who?"

"My fiancée!" he snarled. "That's her car right there. Now where is Bella?"

I let an exaggerated expression of surprised enlightenment come over my face. "Oh, you mean your _ex-_ fiancée. The one you cheated on today—and probably a lot of other times, too."

The stunned expression on his face was almost funny. You could just see the 'how can I get out of this?' thoughts running through his head right now.

"Bella isn't petty or vindictive," he announced, almost smugly. "She has a very forgiving nature."

"Uh-huh," I made sure he could see how little I believed that. Before either of us had time to say anything else…

"Paul…" Bella's voice drifted out from my bedroom. "Where are you?"

"Be back in a sec," I called back.

"Is someone there?" her words sounded more clearly this time, and a moment later, Bella emerged from the hallway to enter the living room. She'd obviously pulled the sheet off my bed and wrapped it around herself like a sarong. She looked incredible, sexy, and thoroughly ravished. Even a blind man could tell what she'd been up to—and Edward Cullen was no blind man, not judging by the strangled sound he made.

I knew he could see my smirk, too. "Babe, I promised you I'd be right back."

"Yeah, but there are so many other places we haven't had sex yet—the bed can wait its turn for a repeat."

"Bella—" Cullen tried to speak to her, but she wasn't having any of it.

"You cheated on me, Edward. I can't fathom why, and honestly, I don't care. You want to be with Tanya…well fine, have her. Just don't think for one nanosecond that you'll have me at the same time. If you wanted out of our relationship, all you had to do was say so—yet you didn't do that. Instead, you kept stringing me along, making a proposal you obviously didn't mean…well, I'm not going to put up with it. You've moved on, obviously, so you have no room whatsoever to complain about me doing the same thing. Here's your ring back. Have a nice life." Bella walked up to us, held the ring out to him; when he didn't take it, she let the ring fall to the porch floor. Then she turned away from him in dismissal.

"So, Paul, what spot in your house should we christen next?"

"The shower," I replied, even as I started to slam the door shut in Cullen's face. "I've seen you naked, now I want to see you wet and naked."

AN: Tweaked the timing so that all events in this chapter happen on the same day.


	2. Aftermath

Bella POV

My last sight of Edward was the utterly stunned look on his face after Paul had spoken. Then the door closed with a loud 'snick'. Even as the door swung shut, Paul was moving toward me in a purposeful stalk, clearly having meant what he'd said. Curious about his possible reaction, I opened the hands holding up the sheet I was wrapped in. The release of pressure sent the sheet fluttering to the floor; I wasn't wearing anything underneath.

Paul jerked to a halt as my nakedness registered. "Sweet Spirits," he murmured. He considered something for a moment. "Nope. Shower first. But we'll definitely add the living room to the list for later."

Paul started moving again. I was confused when he started to bend over, but then I squealed when his movement let him pull me onto his shoulder, so that my breasts pressed against his shoulder-blade and my face bounced against his back. Paul's hand rested against my ass, not entirely—or so I guessed—to keep me from falling.

His construction experience clearly helped him out, as he kept me on his shoulder even while he turned the water on for our shower. When it started to steam, he set me down in the large glass shower stall and quickly stripped off the boxers he'd put on to answer the door. We both stood still for a minute, looking our fill at each other. He was even more impressive out of his clothes than he'd been in them earlier today. Broad shoulders, clearly defined pecs and abs, lean waist—no love handles here—and a massive erection. He was long and thick; definitely ready for another round. As I took the time to fully appreciate him, a pearly droplet emerged from the darkening tip of his cock; without thinking, I reached out, swiped it with my finger, and brought the droplet to my mouth. Paul literally growled when I tasted him.

He stepped under the shower spray with me. Paul's hands lifted, and it was my turn to make a noise when those rough hands of his closed over my breasts. He squeezed and I moaned, need shooting straight through me. The hands moved, and I was lifted up. When my body was pressed against Paul's, I wrapped my legs around him. That was when I realized he'd placed me so that I was basically sitting astride his cock. The sensation was amazing, but it wasn't exactly where I wanted him.

"More. Inside," I begged.

"Didn't grab a condom," Paul told me. "Plus, they don't work that well in the shower. Let me take care of you this time. We'll get back to _that_, I promise, babe."

Whatever I planned to say in response to that was lost when his mouth closed over my left breast. The heat of his mouth, the swirl of his tongue…only his hand cradling the back of my head saved me from cracking my skull against the shower wall. I was spared the risk of repeating the dangerous move when Paul pressed me against that same wall; that freed his hand to move down between us and start stroking my clit. Paul rocked under me as he alternated his attention between my breasts. The barrage of physical sensations became too much and I shattered in his arms. Paul lowered me to the shower bench and lathered up a poof. Then he started rubbing it over my flesh, starting at my feet and working his way up. When he stood back up, he was right where I wanted him—and I wasn't going to let him get away this time. Ignoring the fact that I was covered in scented lather, I reached out to cup my hands around his ass and pull him closer to me, opening my mouth and closing it around his tip. It was his turn to groan this time. Paul's hands shifted to the back of my head, and his hips started to rock. He was fucking my mouth…and I loved it. He was long enough that I couldn't take all of him in my mouth, but I captured as much as I could. Feeling bold, I moved my hands back around and cupped his balls. Paul groaned again, and his body shook. I circled and stroked until I felt his sac tighten.

"Bella," he growled. I didn't answer verbally, just sucked him deeply again and _hummed_. With a roar, Paul released into my mouth; I swallowed greedily until he was done, then licked him clean.

"Aboso-fucking-lutely amazing," Paul told me.

I just smirked. "Your turn again."

"Oh, I will," he shot back. "But we have to get cleaned up first." He hauled me to my feet, so that I stood under the spray again. Boy, he sure must have a high-capacity water tank, since the water hadn't run cold yet. While I rinsed off, he quickly soaped up and then rinsed himself off. Now that we were both clean, Paul shut the water off and reached outside the shower for a towel, which he used to dry me off, then himself. That done, he dropped the towel onto the floor and picked me up again.

It felt deliciously wicked to be carried around naked by a naked man. Paul dropped me back on his bed and pulled another condom packed from his nightstand drawer. While he rolled it onto his renewed erection—and I was beyond amazed at his rapid recovery time—I scooted up the bed until I reclined on a pile of pillows. Paul crawled up the bed, crouching over me. As his head came down and claimed my mouth in a kiss, his length slide inside me in a single stroke. Our shower activities had clearly only warmed us up. Paul set a hard pace, and before long he was wringing every last drop of yet another orgasm from both of us.

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Paul POV

We must have both fallen asleep again after our third round of the day. I wasn't sure what was different about this woman compared to all the others I'd been with, yet couldn't deny that there _was_ some kind of difference. I started to move, but stopped when I realized that Bella was using my shoulder as her pillow. Her dark hair spilled over my chest in a mahogany blanket. What I could see of her face was peaceful—quite a change from the grief and pain of today.

I couldn't figure out why Cullen had cheated, not if he'd had this woman waiting for him. But I certainly wasn't going to argue with it, not when it meant that she was here and in _my_ bed. I'd meant what I told her earlier—I absolutely wanted to do this with her again, and again…

"Thank you," Bella said quietly, shifting more onto her stomach and lifting her head to look at me.

"Back at you, babe." Being a practical kind of guy, I asked Bella if she was hungry. Getting an affirmative answer, I slid out of bed and pulled a clean pair of boxers from my dresser drawer. Decently dressed, I headed for the kitchen to survey the dining options. A few minutes later, Bella joined me, dressed in the same clothes she'd been wearing earlier.

"My suitcase is still in the car," she explained.

"Want me to grab it for you?"

"You don't have to do that," she tried to dissuade me.

"Not a problem. Take a look in the fridge and cabinets. Whatever you want, I'll fix." It only took me a minute to grab her keys and pull a small rolling suitcase out of her trunk. I went ahead and took it into my bedroom, figuring Bella would want to change into fresh clothes. Back in the kitchen, I was just in time to watch Bella putting a frozen pizza onto a baking tray.

"Thank you," she said, moving past me and down the hallway. Figuring she'd want some token healthiness to our meal, I pulled out some cans of fruit from the pantry and dumped them all into a bowl for a fruit salad.

Bella came back to the kitchen just as the pizza came out of the oven, wearing an outfit a lot like her other one, just in a different color. We sat at the kitchen table that I rarely used; I typically ate in the living room in front of the TV. I was more a man of action than words, and I wasn't sure what I ought to say. However compatible we'd proven to be in bed, we didn't know much at all about each other.

"I'm sorry he showed up here," Bella said once we'd both eaten some of our dinner. "I don't know why he did, or how he literally ended up on your front porch."

"You handled yourself pretty well, given what he did to you." Personally, I thought I'd handled _myself_ pretty well, too; after all, I hadn't gone after him, even though I'd wanted to. She did have a good point, though, about him finding us so quickly.

"I just wish I knew why he did it. I can't understand how I was so blind to what was going on in my own relationship." Bella's free hand ran through her tangled half-dry hair.

"You weren't willfully blind, you know; he was just good at playing things the right way to keep you from suspecting."

"I guess so, but it doesn't make me feel any better."

"It'll suck for a while," I agreed. "But why not take it one step at a time? With what you saw today, do you still want to marry him?"

"No!" was the exclamation that tore out of her. She'd basically said as much already, what with dropping the ring at his feet earlier, but it still probably needed to be said out loud. "With what I saw today, I don't feel like I know Edward at all anymore; at least not the Edward he's obviously become over the last two years. I don't see how I could ever trust him again."

"Once a cheater, always a cheater. What did you mean about the last two years?"

"I stayed at U-Dub when he transferred to Cornell. That's where he met her—Tanya. She was a student there in the same program as Edward."

"So he was with her for up to two years, but came back here and proposed to you?" She nodded. "Wow. That's…messed up."

"Yeah. I wish I knew why he did that, too."

"You gonna ask him?"

Bella shrugged. "I'm not sure. I know I'll have to see him again at some point, but I really don't want to."

"You'll have to," I agreed, holding out my hand to her. The diamond engagement ring she'd dropped onto the porch winked from my palm. "Guess he forgot to take this with him."

"Damn it," Bella groaned.

"Don't have to do it tonight, though," I offered. "You're welcome to stay here—face him with a clear head later."

"You don't mind?"

"Nah."

"Then, thanks again."

We finished eating and took the dishes back into the kitchen. After insisting that she would help clean up, Bella said she wanted to get some sleep. "Do you want me to take the couch?"

"Something wrong with the bed?" I wanted to know.

"Um…it's yours?"

"And?"

"And the last two times you've had me in that bed today, it wasn't for sleeping," Bella snorted.

I smirked-she did have a point. "Well, if you don't want my bed, there is a guest room. And you don't have to thank me for it," I added, seeing that she was about to do just that. "Do you need to let anyone know where you are?"

"Crap. Dad." Bella bolted for her phone, which was lying on my coffee table. "Dad, hi. No, I'm fine. I'm sorry I didn't call you before now. I've just had a bad day and—no, I'm fine, really. No, I don't want to talk about it right now. I'll stay here tonight and—what? He did what? How dare he? No, don't. I'll deal with him tomorrow. Please, dad. I just need tonight to get things figured out. I'm fine, and I'll see you tomorrow." Bella ended her call, turned off the phone, and headed for the bedrooms as if she'd forgotten I was there. I figured she needed a little time to herself, so I messed around in the living room for a while before going to check on her. By the time I did, the door to the guest bedroom was closed, and Bella's suitcase was missing from my bedroom. Even though I ought to be tired after the rounds I'd done with Bella today, but I wasn't. I lay awake for quite a while, listening to quiet sobs from the other side of the wall.


	3. Another Visitor

AN: So sorry for the extremely long delay. Becoming an auntie, the stresses of wrapping up my old job and starting a new one, and the sheer chaos of packing, moving, and unpacking…I haven't had time to do much of anything for a few months now; and then when I did have the time, a ton of writer's block. But, I'm finally getting settled, and my muse is making a return, so here's a new chapter. I hope this turned out alright.

Bella POV

I lay on the bed in Paul's guest bedroom, crying for a reason I couldn't really determine. I'd been cheated on and betrayed, so why was I crying like _I _was the one who'd done something wrong? I'd meant what I had said to Paul earlier: I wasn't going to stay with Edward after what he'd just done. But what _was_ I going to do? How was I going to explain this to everyone? How was I going to deal with Edward now? With his family? With mine? How was I going to face life after tonight? How was I going to deal _with_ tonight? Tonight had been so out of character for me. Did I regret it? Should I?

I knew society would say that I should be ashamed of my actions tonight, for turning Edward's infidelity into a tit-for-tat situation. Some might say I should be like a politician's wife, and loyally stand by my man no matter what he did. Well, I'd never been one for meekly toeing the line of society's expectations. I didn't regret this night with Paul—I _wouldn't_ regret this night. As for the rest of it…

Tossing and turning for a while, I finally realized that sleep just wasn't going to come right now. Giving up, I quietly slipped out into the hallway, moving into the living room, and turning the TV on. I glanced back down the hall, seeing that Paul's bedroom door was closed. I didn't want to disturb him, so I turned the volume down low.

"You okay?"

I jumped when Paul's voice spoke from the darkened hallway.

"Yeah—I don't know," I amended. "I can't sleep. I'm sorry if I woke you up."

"Hadn't gone to sleep yet," Paul settled himself on the other end of the couch from where I had curled up.

"Why not?"

"Heard you crying," he admitted.

"I'm—"

"Don't apologize for being upset. You'd have to be weird not to be upset, with what you've been through."

We silently watched the TV show for a while before I asked a question I had started to wonder about. "How did you know…?"

Paul shrugged. "I've been there."

"Someone cheated on you, too?"

He shook his head. "Not on me…but my dad cheated on my mom. A lot."

"I'm sorry," I said—and meant it. My own parents' marriage had gone sour when I'd been young, but at least they'd decided to part ways before getting themselves tangled up in infidelity.

"Not your fault, or mine, either. Just the kind of guy my dad was, I suppose."

Paul POV

We ended up spending the rest of the night on the couch, falling asleep with the TV on. I woke up with my nose buried in Bella's fragrant hair and with her spooned up in front of me. I was grateful she still seemed to be asleep and hadn't noticed my morning wood so far—which changed the moment she started stretching into wakefulness. She rolled away instinctively and started to tumble off the edge of the couch. I had to reach to catch her, which meant I was pressed up against her curvaceous ass.

"Oh," Bella squeaked, the instant she woke up enough to figure out what was going on. Then her tone changed. "Mmm. Good morning."

Well, that wasn't the reaction I would have expected. But then again, she seemed to defy predictability. "Good morning," I offered, hoping I wouldn't screw this up. "How do you feel?"

"Okay, I think. And I have a pretty good idea how _you_ feel." She rubbed against me sinuously. If I hadn't already been rock-hard, that would have done it for sure. I lifted Bella through brute strength, rolling so I lay on my back with her back resting on my chest and my cock nestled in the cleft of her pajama-covered ass. My hands came up to tease her; one reached under her top to begin playing with her breasts, and the other delved inside her panties to stroke her dampening lips. Bella writhed against me, making me groan with lust.

"Damn," I swore, remembering that I didn't have a condom tucked into my pajama pants, or any in the coffee table's drawer. Bella seemed to read my mind.

"Go get one," she told me, blindly moving her hand to press against me and get support to push herself upright. I thought momentarily about asking her if she was sure about this, but didn't. I figured she'd probably knee me if I did, for one thing; for the other, I wasn't about to argue with a woman who wanted to help me with my not-so-little problem. I rolled off the couch after she stood up and quickly moved to my bedroom to grab another condom. While I was at it, I went ahead and stripped naked. When I got back to the living room, an equally naked Bella was waiting for me.

_Oh, yeah._ I'd wanted her here since she'd dropped that sheet last night. Now, I'd have her. I stalked toward Bella, my rock-hard cock leading the way, bobbing up and down with my movement. It was impossible to escape noticing that Bella's attention was riveted to my groin. Words were unnecessary. I pulled her close to me and up onto her toes, ravaging her lips before plunging my tongue into her mouth. Bella's hands flailed before finding purchase in my hair.

Not wanting to go bald prematurely, I released her mouth and set her feet back down on the floor. I didn't give her time to absorb anything before I spun her around, nudging her forward so that her arms instinctively caught her weight on the couch. I pressed up against her, my cock nudging between her legs, my tip already touching her entrance. Bella gasped, but opened her legs slightly to allow me to slide inside. My hands gripped her hips; she'd probably have bruises later on.

Even with as new as this was my strokes into her heated body were like a return home. My deep thrusts into the core of her womb were intense and erotic. A good thing about living in an isolated cabin like I did meant that I didn't have neighbors to shock with the noises we were making. It also let me be a typical guy and avoid the decorating frou-frou of curtains. Except for the bedrooms, all the windows in my cabin—including the big picture window the couch sat in front of—were completely uncluttered, allowing for unobstructed views out to the surrounding forest. But the forest held no interest for me this morning, not compared to the woman I held.

"Paul! Paul!" Bella screamed as she thrashed against me. Her spasms, and the tightening of her muscles around my dick, wrenched my orgasm from me with a shout of equal volume. She went limp and my own legs shook. I managed to control the descent of my knees to the floor, pressing Bella into the couch with my weight.

"Awesome," I breathed into her hair. Bella didn't seem to register my comment.

What she _did_ notice—and practically flung me back onto the coffee table because of—was the banging on my front door. With a shriek, she pulled away from me and bolted for the hallway. I sat back on my heels, looking around to see if there was anything I could cover up with. The only thing was the small blanket Bella must have brought out here with her last night. Not the best thing, but better than nothing. Wrapping it around my waist, I moved toward the door, mentally cursing whoever was out there. If it was that bastard Cullen again, I wasn't going to hold back this time.

I flicked the latches I'd uncharacteristically engaged last night and opened the door to find Jacob Black standing on my front porch. Not exactly who I wanted to see at 7 am, but much better him than Cullen.

"Not interrupting anything, am I?" Jake inquired wickedly.

"Nah," I dismissed it. His eyes tracked up and down, meeting mine again in challenge.

I smirked. "Like what you see?"

"You're not my type. So, who was it this time?"

I quashed the idea of saying 'just some girl' before the notion even had time to form. Bella _wasn't_ 'just some girl' and I'd never demean her by implying she was. Sidestepping the whole question, I asked, "Is there a reason you're here at 7 am, Black?"

"You didn't answer your phone. I wanted to make sure you got the message that your work truck is ready to be picked up. Turned out the repair didn't take as long as I thought it would."

"Okay, message received. Goodbye, Jacob." He began to turn away as I started to shut the door.

"Hey—" Jacob blurted. Spinning back around, Jake pierced me with a hard stare. "Paul, just what the hell is Bella's car doing in front of your house?"

"Where do people usually leave their cars at night?" I asked in return.

The shoe dropped. "She's here?"

I rolled my eyes. "Hence why her car is here."

"Why is she here?"

I hesitated, trying to think how to answer that. 'Because she didn't feel like going home after finding out her ex cheated on her' was the obvious—and truthful—answer, but I didn't know if Bella was ready to start sharing that with everyone yet. So I decided to brush Jake off with, "We just happened to meet up yesterday on the cliffs."

"So, what, you decided for some reason to invite her back to your place so she could get a front row surround-sound seat to a show of you and your flavor-of-the-week?"

I gave him a dirty look. "You really think I'm that much of an ass?"

Jake started to shake his head. "I wouldn't but…" he trailed off. "Shit, Paul, tell me you didn't…?"

I shrugged at his desperately hopefully expression, "Okay, I won't."

"Why?" Jake's hands clenched into fists and he pushed past me into the house.

"Why not?"

"Why not?" his voice rose. "Because she's engaged to someone else for starters. And you barely even knew who she was. Why in the world would you bring her back here and fuck her all night?"

Bella POV

"Because I asked him to," I told my friend, stepping back into the living room. When I'd bolted back into the guest room a couple minutes ago, it had been in complete panic. I'd just _known_ that it was Edward again, and I wasn't ready to deal with him again just yet. Jake was the better choice between the two, but even this wasn't exactly good. Jake had been one of my best friends for years, and wasn't exactly the first person I wanted to explain this—whatever _this_ was—between Paul and me. Yesterday afternoon and last night had been one thing, but I hadn't planned on this morning, hadn't expected the blinding lust that had erupted the instant I felt him behind me. I didn't regret it—any more than I had everything we'd done yesterday—but I was definitely feeling like I had a split personality now, or Bi-Polar Disorder, or something.

But just because I might be unsure about what this was and where it might go, I wasn't about to let Paul face all the fallout with Jake. I was just as responsible, if not more so. So when I heard Jake accusing Paul of taking advantage of me, I couldn't let him do that. I flung on the first things I could find and rushed back out.

"Why would you do that, Bells?" Jake took a few steps toward me. I looked at him, and saw Paul shutting the door.

"Edward cheated on me, Jake. With his 'friend' Tanya, from school. I walked in on them when I got back yesterday. I guess I freaked out and ended up down here, on the cliffs. Paul found me, and…I guess we did end up back here fucking all night, as you put it. But I wasn't forced or manipulated or anything. Paul made sure I knew what I was asking before we left the cliffs. If anyone took advantage of the situation, it was me. He was just out for a run and a near-stranger propositions him."

Jake just stood there, staring at me. "So he cheats on you with someone he knows, and you return the favor with 'a near-stranger'? That's not you, Bells."

"Maybe not," I admitted. "Maybe he brought out some old insecurities. Or I just didn't want to think about why I wasn't enough to satisfy my fiancé. I don't know, Jake. But whatever my reasons, I don't owe them to you. Friend or not, I don't owe you that."

My childhood friend just stared at me like I'd grown a second head, or something equally outlandish. A range of emotions played over his face: fury—hopefully at Edward; disappointment—at me?—better not be. Finally, Jake ran his hands over his face and back through his hair. "I need a drink," he muttered.

"I'll make some coffee," I offered. Glancing over at Paul—and my blanket wrapped around his waist, I added, "Paul, why don't you go get dressed?"

He smirked at me and headed for his bedroom. I ignored Jake's gagging sound and grimace, heading into the kitchen in search of the coffee-making supplies. Paul joined us just as I got the machine ready to start brewing.

"Thanks, babe," Paul commented, moving past me to start pulling out boxes of cereal from a cabinet. "I've got this stuff here, or there's eggs, bacon, or sausage in the fridge. Might be some pancake mix, too."

"Frying pan?" I inquired. Paul pulled it down from a high pot-rack, and I got to work. By the time the food and coffee were ready, Jake seemed more himself—and clearly determined to get answers.

"What happened, Bella?"

Paul POV

Bella gave Jake more of the highlights—or rather, the lowlights—of her yesterday. "I honestly don't know how I ended up at the cliffs, or how I got down here without crashing. But I'm glad Paul found me—there's no way I should have done any more driving yesterday. Anyway, we came here and …"

"And," Jake repeated.

She gave him a look. "Yes, obviously Paul and I did have sex. I'm not going to give details, Jacob—you're no more entitled to them than you are to an explanation."

"I—"

"You're my friend, Jake, but this is for me—and Paul—to figure out. Just like I have to figure out Edward."

He offered her an imitation of his usual smirk. "Want me to go beat him up?"

"If our next meeting doesn't go any better than the one last night did, I just might take you up on that."

"What?" Jake stopped eating to stare at her.

"Cullen showed up here last night, pretty pissed," I informed him. "Bella read him the riot act and we drove him off with some sex talk."

"I just can't figure out how he found me yesterday," Bella told Jake, echoing her words to me. "I mean, why would he think to look for me here? It's not like Paul and I really knew each other before." Jacob frowned at this repeated reminder of the virtual stranger-sex Bella and I had had—and the fact that she didn't seem bothered by it.

He looked out the window instead of at either of us, and I saw his shoulders tense up. "Lo-Jack," he muttered.

"What?"

"Lo-Jack, Bells. It's an anti-theft security system installed on most new cars now. If your car gets stolen, you or the cops can access the GPS tracking unit in the car to figure out where it is. He bought you that car, didn't he?"

She nodded.

Jacob knew cars like I knew construction—part of why it hadn't taken him long at all to peg the car outside my house as Bella's. I swore. "You think he tracked her down that way?"

"Like she said, no reason for him to expect Bella to be here. Logically, he'd have tried my place first."

"Damn him," Bella snarled. "How dare he?"

"He's gonna lose a lot of face once this gets out—he was probably hoping he could talk you into forgiving him or keeping it quiet," I thought aloud.

"Hell, no," she retorted. "Not after coming here, and then—damn it," she cussed again. "Charlie!"


	4. Back to Reality

Jake POV

"Charlie!" Bella's voice was full of worry.

"He'll understand, Bells," I assured her. At least, I hoped he would. I didn't figure—based on a lifetime of knowing him—that Charlie could ever really be mad at her. And it wasn't like Bells was responsible for what had happened with her engagement.

Somehow, though, my words didn't seem to help. I glanced at Paul, but didn't figure he would have any ideas if I didn't. But I ended up getting yet another surprise this morning.

"Babe, what did your dad say when you called him last night?"

Bella's fingers twisted together before her right hand clenched around her now-bare left hand. Paul shoved his chair back and moved around the table to crouch down next to Bella. He pried her hands apart, cradling them loosely in his own.

"Babe?" Man, he sure wasn't acting like the Paul I knew. It was like he…cared. I knew—I just knew—that he and Bella hadn't known each other before now, so why in the world would he care so much about what was happening to her? Was she that—_no, I'm not going to even go there about my best female friend._

Bella POV

I sat there, knowing I ought to say something, but not having a real clue as to what. Jake's question had brought that whole brief phone conversation with my dad back into my mind, and I didn't really want to face it. I didn't want to have to face just how clueless I'd been about the kind of person that Edward was showing himself to be now.

"_Dad, hi." _

"_Bella, you never made it home! Are you alright?"_

"_No, I'm fine." _Notthat I really was fine, but it was my standard answer most of the time._ "I'm sorry I didn't call you before now. I've just had a bad day and—_

"_What happened? Are you hurt? Broken down?—"_

"_No, I'm fine, really. No, I don't want to talk about it right now," _I forestalled what I knew my dad's next question would be_. "I'll stay here tonight and—what?" _My words cut off when my dad interrupted me.

"_Edward came by the house a few minutes ago, really broken up. Bells, he…he said he didn't know where you were, that he thought…he thought you might be…with someone else. But I know you aren't—that you can't be."_

"_He did what? How dare he?"_

"_I knew he was lying, baby. I'm going to go over there right now and—"_

" _No, don't. I'll deal with him tomorrow. Please, Dad. I just need tonight to get things figured out. I'm fine, and I'll see you tomorrow."_

"Dad just said that Edward stopped by his house—must have been where he went after he left here."

"What did he say?" Paul continued to press me for an answer, even as he squeezed my hands gently.

"Edward told Dad…that he thought I was cheating on him."

"Fuck!" Both men snarled.

"Charlie threw him out on his ass, right?" Jake demanded.

I couldn't help laughing just a little at that picture. "Something like that, I think. And then I think he called me—I didn't listen to the message, just called him back."

Paul grabbed my phone and started tapping. "I'm putting my numbers in, and Sam's and Jared's cells, too. If you need me, _call_," he emphasized, handing the phone back.

"Thanks." Taking my phone back, I pulled up his number and sent him a text so he'd have my number in his phone.

"So what are you going to do now?" Jake pushed himself back into my awareness.

"Go home and talk to Charlie."

"You ready for that?"

I loved Jake—I really did. He'd been my best guy-friend for years. But there were times, like now, when he could be a little annoying.

"I think so. No sense putting it off, and I don't want to, anyway. I want this to be over."

I wasn't interested in any more breakfast, and with Paul flatly refusing to let me deal with the dishes, I headed to the guest room to repack my bag and then wheel it out to the front door. Showing a good amount of discretion, Jake took the suitcase out to the car for me so Paul and I could say goodbye.

"You can do this, " he told me. "You are strong. Just stick to your guns."

"I'll try."

"'Do or not do, there is no try'," he quoted Star Wars at me. "And I'm only a call away if you need a boost."

"Thanks."

Paul POV

I couldn't help pulling her close for one more kiss before letting her go and watching her drive away.

Once the car had disappeared down the road, Jake turned to me. "So what now?"

"Now I take a shower, and then you can drive me to your shop to get my truck."

"What am I supposed to do while I wait?"

"Figure something out. The dishes, maybe."

Walking past my bed on the way into the bathroom, Bella's fragrance seemed to linger in the air. But even if I was imagining it, the memories of her would last for a while. Bella in my bed, in my shower… But as much as I wanted to savor them just now, I didn't have the time. I had to pick up my truck and then get over to the site where my company was building a house.

Back in the kitchen to grab a thermos of coffee, I saw that the limit of Jake's clean-up had been to pile all the dirty dishes into the sink. "Gee, thanks," was my sardonic retort to Jake's smirk. "Let's get going."

Bella POV

I drove away from Paul's house with a part of myself wanting to turn around and stay. Leaving this bubble wasn't at the top of my to-do list. Neither was the confrontation I knew would come with my ex-fiance. But before that, I'd have to fill my dad in on what had happened. In hindsight, it was surprising that he'd let me get away with the minimal information I'd given him last night; though, I hadn't exactly given him much chance to demand more.

I knew he would take my side in this, and I loved him all the more for never believing Edward's lies for an instant, but this just made me think about Edward's parents and his siblings. Well, mother, stepfather, and step-siblings. Edward's real father, Edward Masen Sr., had died when Edward was just a baby. His mom, Esme, had met and married Carlisle Cullen a few years later, and he'd adopted Edward. Carlisle already had two kids of his own, Emmett and Alice, who he'd been raising alone after his wife Kate had walked out on them. Edward got along well with his adopted/step-siblings, and I liked them, too, even though I didn't get to see them often anymore. Emmett and his wife Rosalie lived in L.A., and Alice lived in New York City with her husband Jasper.

If Charlie could be expected to support me wholeheartedly, then the Cullens would do no less for Edward, which was only natural and expected. I could mourn the loss of the large family I would have married into, but they weren't worth the moral and emotional compromise that marrying Edward now would demand.

And I _didn't_ want to marry Edward, not anymore. Having seen that Edward had discovered that there were other fish in the sea, part of me regretted that it had taken something like this to make me see the same thing. How much, I now wondered, might be different now if I'd accepted any of those rejected college social invitations, even on a purely casual and platonic basis, the way my mom had encouraged? I resisted the temptation to consider how much the last day with Paul was impacting my current state—I needed to keep my focus, and thinking of him wouldn't help there.

All of my thoughts had occupied me through the half-hour drive from La Push to the house I shared with my dad in Forks. He must have been watching for me because he was on the porch by the time I parked my car on the parking pad, and halfway to me before I could get my car door open.

"Bella, honey, what's going on?" He swept me into a hard hug, which only confirmed how worried he was about me.

"Edward cheated on me, Dad," I tried to be as strong as Paul had told me I was and just get the words out there. "I walked into his room yesterday to see him f—" I abruptly toned down my intended words to keep my dad from having a heart attack—"having sex with that girl he went to school with. And I don't think it was the first time they did that."

Charlie looked as stunned as I must have when I'd seen live what I'd just described to him. But he pulled himself together and walked me inside. Then, like a good cop, he walked me through everything, asking questions when he needed to, letting me just talk out my thoughts when I needed to do that. "I just don't know why he did it, though. Any of it." And I didn't have an answer now any more than I had all the other times I'd asked this since yesterday afternoon.

"Best defense is a good offense," Charlie offered.

"What?"

"Any suspect with half a brain will try to shift attention away from himself and onto someone else, anyone else, even the victim. If he can make this all about you, then maybe people won't focus as much on what he did."

"But why not just break up with me? Why cheat on me and then accuse me of cheating on him?"

"I wish I could tell you, Bells. Maybe he wants a breakup to be your doing."

"Well, if that's it, then he'll get his wish."

"Bells—"

"I can't trust him anymore. And while I hate how he did it, Edward opened my eyes to the fact that he's not who I thought he was, and that's not the person I want to spend my life with."

"I only want you to be happy, Bella. If you don't want to marry him, then no one will make you. Just take a little time to think; don't do anything reckless."

Oh, I'd gone far beyond reckless in the past 18 or so hours. But that was the part I really didn't want to confess to my father.

"Did he leave here when you asked him to last night?" I asked.

"Yeah. He wasn't happy, but he left. He—did he try to find you, Bella?"

Deep breath. "He already had. He came to you after I slammed the door in his face."

"Where were you? I was worried about you."

"I'm sorry. I just had to go someplace where I could clear my head and think. I didn't have any idea he'd manage to follow me, or that he'd use some tracking thing in my car to know right where I was."

"What?" Charlie's face started to darken—a danger sign with him.

"Jake said Edward probably used something called Lo-Jack in my car to find me."

"So you went to Jake's?"

Another deep breath. "No. I went to La Push, to the cliffs to watch the waves, and I met a friend of Jake's there. They offered me a place to stay for the night."

Being a good cop, Charlie knew right off that I wasn't telling everything. "And which friend of Jake's was it?"

"Paul Lahote."

"Good construction worker," my dad replied. "Bit of a reputation as a ladies' man. So he gave you a place to stay out of the kindness of his heart?"

"Something like that."

"Uh-huh," Charlie grumbled. "Bella…"

"I _didn't_ cheat on Edward while we were together. What I do now that I'm single again is my business." I scrubbed my hands over my face. "I need to go upstairs and unpack. I'm going to try and squeeze in a shower before Edward shows up and tries to put dents in the front door."

Paul POV

"Earth to Paul!" I jerked back to awareness when Sam's voice broke into my thoughts, and his hand smacked the back of my head.

"What?"

"Where's your head today, bro?"

"I'm okay," I dismissed the concern.

"Sure you are," Sam shot me a skeptical look. He started nudging me along, calling, "Back in ten," to Jared across the worksite. "So what broad has your shorts in a knot?"

Before I knew it, I was up in my best friend's face. "Don't call her that!" I snarled.

"Whoa!" Sam took a step back and brought his hands up to ward me off. "Ease up, Paul. Sheesh. I'm sorry, man."

"Fine."

"Reworded, the question stands, though. And we'll stay here as long as it takes for me to get an answer." I knew Sam meant it—he was the definition of stubborn, which was part of why we'd managed to get our construction company off the ground. I ran my hands through my hair.

"You're starting to freak me out, you know? Who is she?"

"Bella. Bella Swan."

"Jake Black's friend?"

"Yeah."

"Didn't think you knew her."

"I didn't, until yesterday. Met her on the cliffs…yesterday," I was brought up short at just how much had happened in the past day and how different everything seemed now. "24 hours ago, I didn't really know who she was, and now I can't stop thinking about her."

"The sex was that good?" Sam got another glare for that question.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yeah, it was."

"So this is a problem because…"

"Because she's the kind of girl I always stayed away from—and somehow she's a woman I can't stay away from and don't want to."

"Now you're _definitely_ starting to freak me out."

"How's that new?" Jared interrupted. "You two pussies plan on helping me build this house, or just sit around gossiping all day?"

"Paul's having some kind of emo-crisis over Bella Swan," Sam informed our friend and business partner.

"The same Bella Swan that's engaged to that Cullen?"

Sam's eyes shot back over to me. "Forgot about that. You hooked up with a girl with a ring on the finger?"

"Hell, no," I denied. "She pulled it off and threw it at him when she caught him cheating on her yesterday."

"Rebound revenge sex. Hot," Jared laughed, extending his fist to me for a bump.

But my fist didn't touch his. "It wasn't like that," I replied, wondering even as I did if I was trying to convince them…or myself.

"What was it, then?"

"It was like two stars colliding. Unstoppable."

"Paul," Sam was serious. "I get that she's different, special. I'm just worried you're diving headlong into a pool that you don't know the depth of. I don't want you breaking your head, neck, or heart on this."

"She's not—"

"And you might be completely right. But, she was in that relationship for years, right?" A nod. "Even with something bad, girls just don't cut things off just like this—" his hand chopped the air. "She's got to grieve, or whatever, and maybe then think about what comes next. Maybe you both need to slow down and take things in order."

I knew Sam knew what he was talking about—he'd watched his sister Emily go through a bad breakup a couple years ago. Rationally, I got that everything Sam was saying was true—emotionally, it made my blood boil. I didn't know how I'd made this deep of a connection with Bella in such a short time, but I had, and now couldn't stand the idea of Cullen keeping some hold on her, not when I was here.

"Don't knock that 'bolt of lightning' stuff, Sam," Jared grinned. "It was like that with me and Kim, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. And I'm not knocking it at all. Nor am I saying that Paul can't have found that with Bella. I just think she needs to get her past wrapped up before starting on a future."

There wasn't really much to say beyond what we had already. And we didn't have time to, either—this house needed to get built, and we couldn't afford to waste a nice day when we got one. I followed my friends back to the in-progress building. But even as I started taking measurements and swinging a hammer, I still kept thinking about Bella.

AN: Hope this came out alright. I'm completely making this up as I go along.


	5. Confrontation

To reviewer(s) named Guest: Yeah, I want to smack Edward, too. This story is definitely not going to be Edward-friendly (if you couldn't tell that already). And yes, both Paul and Bella have some good friends, who will really be there for them. Yes, I imagine Bella will tell Edward off. And I don't try to throw curveballs with announced story pairings.

Lenniem: I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so far and thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll do my best to live up to it.

babycakes12: I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so far. I'm sorry this took so long, but here's a new onr finally.

To all my readers: I am incredibly sorry that it has been… (gulp) 6 months since I updated this story. I never meant to leave you hanging so long. I can only blame it on writer's block on this story and getting unblocked on my Embry story, plus life being super crazy. But…I owe you for your patience, so here's a new chapter—finally.

Narrator POV

Charlie's fists clenched tightly once his daughter was out of sight. Cop or no cop, part of him wanted nothing more than to go raging through Forks to hunt down Edward Cullen. Bella wasn't the only one feeling like a gullible fool right now. Charlie was supposed to be this hyper-observant cop, so how hadn't he seen any of this coming?

But even more worrisome to this father was Edward's conduct in the day since his cheating had been discovered. Using the GPS unit in her car to track Bella down made all the alarm bells in his head go off, and he made a note to look up the legality of that move. He was pretty sure that doing something like that at least skirted the line of criminal behavior, and probably—hopefully—crossed it. If it did, Charlie planned to make sure Bella knew all her legal options. He made a mental note to look up the Washington State statutes the next time he was at the station, just to make sure. And then there was the other stuff that Edward had done. Coming here to report to Charlie where Bella was, and making allegations of cheating by her? None of it sounded like a guy who was just going to say goodbye to his old relationship. As a cop, Charlie had seen the aftermath of relationships gone bad, and he vowed that Bella would not become another statistic.

But hopefully it was just a case of Cullen reacting impulsively and not maliciously; Charlie was enough of an idealist still that he didn't want to believe that someone he'd known for the better part of a decade . Charlie knew as well as his daughter that the young man would be over here trying to grovel his way out of this mess. He had to fight a grin here—if Edward thought Bella was just going to meekly forgive him…well, clearly, the jerk didn't know Bella anywhere near as well as he thought. Charlie, though, did know Bella. She was the dictionary picture for words like 'determined' and 'loyal'. Bella tended to make up her mind quickly about things and then stick to her decision no matter what—unless something drastic happened; being cheated on qualified as something drastic, and so he believed without question that Bella wasn't going to back off from her vow to cut ties to Edward Cullen.

Edward's behavior last night wasn't the only thing that had Charlie concerned. She might not have directly admitted anything, but Charlie was no fool—his paternal instincts told him that Bella hadn't spent last night alone, not with where she'd stayed. Charlie knew he ought to warn Bella against getting involved with anyone—much less Paul Lahote—until this Edward situation had been resolved. But he doubted she'd listen. His daughter had gotten her headstrong nature from her mom and her stubbornness from him. And even if she would listen, Cullen was sure to have the idea of her with a lover too firmly lodged in his brain now anyway. Charlie's blood boiled again at the mere thought that this…jerk might try to blacken Bella's name around town.

He heard the water start to run in the bathroom.

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Bella POV

I enjoyed nice long showers. Standing under the spray of water was normally where I did some of my best thinking—and clear thinking was essential just now. Today, though, I thought I might break the record for a speed-shower. I absolutely had to get cleaned up and clear my head, but there was no way that I was going to take the chance on Edward arriving while I was naked. That he _would_ come over, I had no doubt of; and as he had a key for my parents' house just like I had one for his...he easily could just walk right in the way I had yesterday. That thought made me resolve to return his key and get my own back immediately.

I dried off and dressed in the bathroom and was pulling my wet hair back into a braid when I heard the phone ring. My first thought was that it was Edward calling a neutral number rather than the cell phone he had to know I wouldn't answer. But why he reasoned that a different number would bring a different outcome escaped me. I hurried downstairs and Charlie met me at the foot of the stairs.

"Bad accident on the highway south of town," he told me. "I gotta go in."

"Okay. I'll be fine."

Dad gave me a long look. "I want you to be careful, Bells. The stuff Cullen has pulled in the last day…you _gotta_ be careful. If he calls you, go meet him somewhere public. If he just shows up, then he doesn't set one foot inside this house," Charlie warned. "Keep him on the front porch. And have this with you," he pushed a small can of pepper spray into my hand.

"Dad, I don't—"

"Just have it handy, okay? Give your old man some peace of mind."

"Okay, I promise."

Dad pulled me into a quick hug, kissed my forehead, and bolted upstairs to change into his uniform. A couple minutes later, he was pounding down the stairs and outside. After the cruiser disappeared in a spray of driveway gravel, I took a deep breath, scrubbing my face with my hands. Hands made me think of the ring, and I dashed back up to my bedroom to retrieve it from my bag. Then I got the last cup of coffee from the pot and took it out to the front porch along with the can of pepper spray. I didn't normally enjoy my coffee outside, but it was probably the best way to head Edward off and keep him out of the house.

I was only halfway done with my drink when I heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. As expected, it was Edward. He pulled into the driveway behind my car and got out. I stayed in my seat and watched him in silence as he walked toward the house and up the steps. When he came to a stop in front of me, I still stayed where I was and still said nothing.

"Bella…I—"

"This is yours," I finally spoke, and held the ring out to Edward for the second time in two days.

He shook his head. "No, Bella, that's yours."

"Not anymore," I disagreed. "I told you last night that cheating on me was a deal-breaker."

"Bella, it was—"

I cut him off, "If the rest of that sentence is anything like 'just a single lapse, or a one-time mistake, then spare us both, Edward, please. I heard you with _Tanya_—" I spat the name out, "and you made it perfectly clear that yesterday wasn't the first time. Do you understand how that made me feel? How it still makes me feel?"

"I was a fool, Bella. I understand that. I've…" Edward trailed off.

"You've made me doubt everything. Every word, message, everything. I thought we had a good relationship even with being separated for school—"

"We did—do," Edward was the one to interrupt this time. I kept going as if he hadn't said anything.

"But obviously that wasn't true if you started something with Tanya. Can you understand how upsetting it is to wonder why I wasn't enough for you, why you had to start something with her? How it hurts to think that you didn't tell me? And it's not just the last couple years that you're making me question. It's this whole summer. Was this the first time she came here when I was out of town? Were you visiting her when _you_ left town?"

"Bella, I—It's not—I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what? For cheating on me? Or for getting caught?" I inquired waspishly.

"For everything. I never meant for any of this to happen or for you to be hurt. I _do _understand that you're hurt, and I'll do anything I can to make it up to you, to prove that you can trust me."

I shook my head. "I don't think that's possible, Edward. Did you listen to me a minute ago? What I saw and heard yesterday has made me question everything about our relationship over the past few years. And I don't see how I can pretend to not know these things now, or that none of it happened. I would never be able to stop doubting and questioning everything word or action. I can't and won't live my life that way, and that's not how you should live yours, either."

"You can't seriously be telling me that you're breaking everything off just because of one misjudgment?" Edward's face was flushed and his voice got louder.

"But it _wasn't _just one misjudgment, Edward," my voice rose in response. "_You_ said that yourself yesterday _when you were fucking her!_" I hissed. "You said that you missed her and sex with her."

"Bella—"

"Don't patronize me. It was exactly what it sounded and looked like. And yes, I absolutely am breaking things off because of this. And if you knew anything about me, you'd have understood that from the start. Which you may well have done—you _did_ keep this a secret from me for who-knows how many months or years."

"I'm being patronizing? Well, you're being sanctimonious. You throw this in my face, but what about yourself? You act all offended by what I did, but _I_ practically walked in on _you_ having sex with that native last night. Don't you think _I'm _wonderinghow long that's been going on?"

"I barely knew Paul before yesterday. But he was there for me when I really needed someone to listen and to remind me that I'm not responsible for what you've chosen to do."

"What's gotten into you, Bella? Why are you acting like this? And in public?"

I looked around, but didn't see any of the neighbors outside or watching us. "No one's around. And I'll tell you again, Edward, not to lay the blame for this on me. You're the one who cheated."

"Can we take this inside?"

"You're not getting into my house again. And on that subject, I want the house key back. Here's yours," I handed it over.

"Bella, don't, please."

"I've made up my mind, Edward. I think we can keep this civil—if it helps, I can promise not to take out an ad in the paper, or anything like that. I won't lie, if a close friend asks; but for most people…just saying that we had a change of heart should be enough. Plenty of engagements end without a wedding."

Edward opened his mouth.

"The key, Edward," I cut in. I held my hand out expectantly.

"Bella…"

"Edward, you might think you're showing your commitment, but really, all you're doing is proving that you can't listen to what I'm saying or what I want. I don't want this to end up where we hate each other, and won't walk on the same side of the street, but you've got to respect how I feel and what I say. This is over."

Edward stared at me for a long time in silence. Finally he reached into his pocket for his keys, and twisted the ring to pull off a silver key. This he placed into my hand.

"Goodbye, Edward." I didn't do anything sappy, like stand there and watch him drive away. Rather, I turned away and walked back into the house, shutting to door firmly and flipping the lock. Then, I went upstairs, curled up in my bed, and cried.

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AN: I had this ready to post, but held off thinking I needed to add a few things. But I think the chapter is good as-is, and whatever I might have added will fit just as well (and maybe even better) as part of the next chapter.


	6. Now What?

Guest: Yes, Edward's not a nice [insert other colorful adjectives here] guy at all. We'll see more of the Cullen family sometime in the near story future, so stay tuned.

Guest: Nope, no wimpy, whiny Bella here. She did have a bit of a cry, which an emotionally charged conversation like that one would naturally evoke. But she won't go all zombie or depressed or anything like that.

Frekles: Thanks. I enjoy the challenge of taking the same canon background that everyone uses, and putting my own spin/twist on things. I'd admit that it's not a typical Bella who does what I've had her do so far. We'll definitely see a lot of her and Paul, and how they are the way they are. I'll be interested to see how this develops as well. I don't have a very solid plan for this one, so we're all of us at the mercy of my muse.

Laurzxx: gld u liked. Hope I didn't keep u w8ting 4 long.

Congrats to SassYNoleS for being review #150 for this story on FF.

Christy86: I hope this came soon enough. This story seems hit with a lot of writer's block, so updates are slower than I expected they would be when I got started on this one.

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Bella POV

After a while, I sat up, wiped my eyes, and resolved to let that be the last time that Edward Cullen made me cry. I was going to move past this, move on and make a better life and future for myself.  
>So to start that, I got up from my bed and started unpacking my suitcase, after a quick trip into the bathroom to wash my face. My dad had brought my bag upstairs for me-probably while I was in the shower-but I wished now that he hadn't. I was going to have to carry most of the stuff in it back downstairs to the washing machine. After getting the first load started, I let myself get lost in the mindless activity of housework.<p>

If I was going to have a better future, I needed to figure out what that was going to look like, or at least what I wanted in it. Nothing about the last couple days changed the fact that I was still in need of a job. I'd gotten a few rejections so far, and was waiting to hear back from others. And where I got an offer would determine where I'd be living. I'd been okay with living in Washington state for the better part of the past decade, but long-term? I just didn't know. I didn't want to necessarily stick around a place where Edward and his family were, but neither was I going to let them drive me away. Yet again, I wondered if he's actually been doing any applications or interviews this summer, or if it had all been a facade to cover up his cheating? I knew that his family, both blood and adopted, were well-off, even rich, so he might not have as much need as me to find a job fast; but everyone else in his family, including his mom, worked so he would have to as well, right? Still, Edward's family aside, I had to have a job and it was almost sure to mean moving somewhere else.

_But what about Paul?_ The thought was involuntary. Well, what about him? Okay, so we had had some amazing—alright, incredibly mind-blowing sex—but did it really mean anything?

_I'm okay with wrapping up this time. But we're definitely going to give bareback a try,_ Paul had said during our first time. Maybe it had just been said in the heat of the moment, but could he really have been serious? Did he really want more with me? Did I want it with him? I honestly didn't know. Yeah, the sex had been great, but even great sex wasn't enough to ensure a strong and lasting relationship—just look at me and Edward. Still, sex would have to be a line in the plus column of my mental decision chart where Paul was concerned. That I didn't know him at all was likely a negative; _but you like everything you __**do**__ know about him,_my inner voice added. Which was true—I certainly didn't have anything against Paul or the simple idea of getting to know him better to see what would happen. But…the whole geography thing might end up being a deal-breaker here, too. If I moved for a job, and he was tied here with his own, we probably wouldn't stand any more of a chance than my last long-distance relationship had had.

A rumble from my stomach made me turn to look at the clock. Between Edward, the cleaning frenzy I'd embarked on, and all my thinking, the entire morning had sped by without much in the way of awareness from me. With the house now in order, I moved to the kitchen and started fixing myself something for lunch. It ended up being just a simple sandwich, chips, and the last of the bag of carrots—clearly my dad hadn't been to the grocery store while I was gone. So I started a shopping list while I ate.

My physical need for sustenance addressed, I wondered what else I needed right now. A moment's thought caused me to head back upstairs for my phone. I didn't want to be a rebound girl, just using Paul to get over Edward—Paul deserved a lot better than that, for one thing. I knew that I needed to get myself figured out before starting anything knew—or at least, before getting any further into what I'd somehow already started. My body traitorously tried to change my mind by reminding me of just how good Paul and I had been together. I wasn't going to deny it, but I also wanted to make sure that any future relationship I became a part of was the right one and for the right reasons. So I wasn't dialing Paul's number because I needed some fix, I promised myself. But I somehow figured he'd want to know how my confrontation with Edward had gone.

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Paul POV

I'd gotten funny—and knowing—looks from both my friends when I'd made sure my phone was handy when we took a break for lunch, or when I'd checked it a few times over the course of the morning—just in case Bella had needed me and called. She hadn't, though, so I hoped that today's meeting with the cheater had gone okay. A part of me was disappointed—I'd love it if she needed or wanted me to pound him into the ground, but she was strong enough to stand up for herself and make her wants known.

I also hoped that her wants would be the same as mine and bring us together again soon. I knew a little of what Sam's sister had gone through in her breakup, so it's not that I thought Sam didn't know what he was talking about with what he'd said this morning. But I wanted the words I'd spoken to Bella last night and this morning to be true, too: that we'd be having more of that unbelievable sex again—and soon.

Before I could descend into sappiness, my phone rang. A quick glance at the display confirmed that it was Bella calling me.

"Hey, B-ella," I greeted, only just barely using her name instead of 'babe'.

"Hi, Paul."

"Everything okay?"

I could hear her take a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm fine. Saw him this morning—he came over here pretty much like I expected him to, honestly. But I really stood my ground. Didn't even let him in the front door—" Bella broke off her sentence with a half-laugh, "and didn't even let him finish a sentence, either, I don't think."

"Good for you. All of it."

"You were right. I was strong enough to do it."

"Knew you could."

Jared's theatrics next to me made me jump down from my seat on the truck's tailgate to walk away for more privacy.

"How'd he take it?"

"He wasn't too happy, I guess. Tried all the standard tricks—or at least I think they're the standards: 'I'm sorry', 'it was a misjudgment', even the 'what about what you did?' bullcrap."

"Damn him," I muttered.

"My dad thinks it might be so that Edward can try and make himself feel better and have things appear to be about me and not about him. I'm not going to listen to it."

"Good plan. It _isn't_ about you."

"Yeah. Thanks for reminding me about that earlier. I think it helped."

"You're welcome," I hesitated. We'd reached a natural end to what we'd been talking about, and for the life of me I didn't know what to do next. I didn't have much time left in my lunch break—and still had uneaten food—but I didn't want to end this call.

"So—" we both spoke awkwardly at the same time.

"Sorry," Bella apologized. "You first."

"Want to come over tonight?"

She was quiet just long enough to make me start to worry. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

_Shit!_ "You regret what happened, don't you?"

"No! I don't know. No! What we shared was amazing. It was exactly what I needed then, and I can never thank you enough. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about the idea of what might happen next."

"So…? I was confused.

"It's all too fast. Two days ago, I was engaged to someone else. I can't—won't—rush into something in the grip of emotions. Yeah, sex was…unbelievable, but we hardly even know one another and—" Bella's voice had grown louder and her speech quicker, obviously getting upset.

"_She was in that relationship for years, right?...think about what comes next. Maybe you both need to slow down and take things in order."_

Sam's words from this morning popped back into my mind and I tried to make myself listen to them better, and to Bella clearly.

"Do you like me?"

Bella made some kind of noise.

"I'm not just asking as a lover—I already know the answer to that," I tried to tease and ease the tension, "—I mean as a person?"

"Yes. I think so. I mean, I like what I know about you," she replied. "It's just that I don't really know hardly anything about you."

"Would you like to? Would you like to get to know me better?"

"Yes. I think I do. But, Paul…I just don't know what I can promise. There's so much, I just don't know what to say or do about a lot of things—me, my career…It's not fair to you that I can't say, 'Two months from now I'll be ready', or something like that. And I don't know how easy it's going to be for either of us, what with how we just jumped into the deep end with this. Can we really go back to the beginning and start over and have it work?"

The tightness in my chest eased up a little when I listened to what Bella was saying. She wasn't opposed to the idea of me, just not sure how it would all work out. But at least it sounded like she'd be okay with trying.

"So, it's not a 'no', just a 'not yet'? Is that it?"

"Uh-huh. But—"

"I can live with that, Bella. At least I think I can. My best friend Sam…well, his sister Emily went through a bad breakup herself, so he kinda knows what it's like. This morning, he pretty much said some of the stuff you just did. I guess I know we took a leap off the high cliffs with—this—between us, but it just felt _right_, you know? And I want, need…hell, Bells, I _know_ what my reputation's like. I _know _I'm the one-night stand, love 'em and leave 'em type—at least I _have_ been. But…I know this is going to sound like some lame-ass bar line, but…you're different. I swear you are. And as long as you're saying that we've got a chance to see what this is, or will be, or could be, or whatever, then I want it."

"But, you…"

I gave a choked laugh that I automatically turned to check that my friends hadn't heard. I just knew what Bella was trying to say. "Yeah, okay, I'm not going to lie and say that being around you, knowing what we're like together when we're not going to repeat it—yet—is going to be some kind of hell. It will be. But it'll give me lots of motivation to help you get to where you're okay with it. After all," I let my voice drop low and sexy, "I've still got most of a house left for us to christen." Okay, so reminding _myself_ of that fact might not have been the best idea. Still…

"Okay," Bells finally answered. "If you—we—can be patient, I think I _would_ like to see what happens."

"Great," I grinned. "So, how should be start getting to know one another better?"

"Well, there's emails and phone calls…"

I groaned. "Bella, we live 30 minutes away from each other and we have common friends. I'm gonna try real hard to be patient, but you're killing me."

She laughed faintly. "Probably myself, too. Alright. I still think we should avoid the temptation of your house—at least for a while. But you're right that we can do things with friends."

I bit my lip to keep from groaning again. Yeah, so being with her while not being in her would be torture, so would not being around her.

"Are you busy tonight?" Bella asked.

"No!" My teeth gritted at how completely juvenile that had sounded.

"Maybe you could stop by here after work. My dad will probably want to meet you. Grill you about your perspective on Edward's visit to your place, your intentions toward me—all the good stuff."

Gulp. An interrogation by the Chief of Police. Joy. But for Bella, I had the feeling it was a gauntlet I was willing to run. "About six?"

"Sure. I'll set a place for you at the table."

Knowing I'd get fed in the bargain made it a much better deal. "Okay. See you then."

"Bye."

"Bye."

"Awww…" Jared's voice had me spinning around. "You sound so cute, Lahote."

"Shut up," I threatened. It must not have been very effectively, because my friend was still grinning.

We headed back to rejoin Sam and I put my phone back into the truck before we got back to work.

"So?" Sam asked.

"He stopped by her place this morning and she squashed him like a bug."

"And, you and her?"

"We'll see what happens."

"Ladies' Man Lahote going to take things slow and sweet?" Jared sounded stunned.

"Guess so," I replied. Both he and Sam looked a bit skeptical. "Look, okay, sure, is it going to be hell going from hot-and-heavy to not? Abso-fucking-lutely. But is Bella worth it if we can actually make this work? Again, abso-fucking-lutely."

Deciding that was going to be my final word on the subject, I bent over the blueprints and started making notes on a pad.

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Bella POV

Charlie came home mid-afternoon. The wreck he'd been called out to had been a pretty bad one: a couple of cars filled with teenagers out racing when one car had gone off the road and crashed. Thankfully, none of them had been killed, but all of teens had been hurt and the road blocked for treatment, investigation, and cleanup.

He seemed proud of me when I told him about Edward's visit and how I'd handled it and him. He'd looked at the spare house key I'd passed to him, before crossing to the phone, and dialing a number he looked up in the town directory. Charlie came back to the table after having a conversation I didn't really understand.

"Steve from the hardware store is going to come by later this afternoon and re-key all the doors in the house, Bells."

"Why?"

"Call it me being a cautious cop, okay? No different from a house getting new locks when a new owner takes possession."

"But I got the key back."

"And nothing would have stopped him from walking into any hardware store or locksmith and getting a duplicate made, Bells. Not like they ask where keys come from before copying them."

"You think Edward would…" I trailed off, unable to finish the question.

"I don't know, Bells. I just don't know," Charlie ran his hand through his hair. "But I didn't think he'd use the GPS in your car to track you down, either. I just want you safe, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Dad."

"Anything for my girl. And on the subject of that car…I want you to be careful, okay?"

"Okay…"

"I looked things up, and it's a gray area, what Edward did last night. He bought the car and could have found you by following you directly. Car was out in public view, but it was on private property most of the time, and that Lo-Jack system is hardwired into the car, not some tracker stuck to the bumper. Plus, the car was a gift and the title's in your name."

The car became something else added to my list of things to think about. I'd pushed aside the fact that Edward had given me the car and it was certainly a big reminder of him. But I'd wait and try to think things through before making any decisions on it. Something I had made a bit of a decision on brought up something I needed to mention to my dad while I still had time.

"Paul's going to stop by after work," I announced.

"Bella!"

"Dad, I know, okay? I'm not going to rush into anything, I promise. But Paul was there for me when I really needed someone to listen, and I want to see if we can become friends. And down the road…well, we'll have to see."

"Hmm," Charlie was noncommittal. "Okay, Bells. Guess we'll see."

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AN: So, so sorry that this took…gah, two months. I won't bore you with reasons why; just repeat my promise to never ever abandon a story completely. Come hell, high water, or uncooperative muses, I will see each story I start through to completion. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this latest installment. I'd love to know what you think.


	7. Go Back to Start

"_Paul's going to stop by after work," I announced._

"_Bella!"_

"_Dad, I know, okay? I'm not going to rush into anything, I promise. But Paul was there for me when I really needed someone to listen, and I want to see if we can become friends. And down the road…well, we'll have to see."_

"_Hmm," Charlie was noncommittal. "Okay, Bells. Guess we'll see."_

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Bella POV

"Bella I'm going to have to go into the station for a while, okay? I've got to swing by the hospital to see what those kids have to say about what happened, and check on the paperwork," my dad pushed aside his clearly dubious opinion of my dinner guest announcement-or maybe it was that we were just "friends", with anything else way down the road into the future.

"That's fine. Do I have enough time to run to the grocery store before the locksmith comes? Paul's coming over around six, and we're out of almost everything. I need to get some things for dinner."

Charlie glanced at his watch and nodded. "Yeah, you should have enough time—you always did hit the grocery store like it was a military operation."

"Just doing my part to avoid the marketing traps. Okay. I'll run do that now and be back in plenty of time."

I did indeed blaze through my grocery run, wincing only a little at using my car to do it. With how Edward had followed me and with what my dad had said concerning the house door locks…I was honestly getting a little freaked out with everything. If Edward had been willing to use my car's security features—a car he'd purchased as a gift for me—in order to track me down once, what would keep him from trying it again? I didn't want to think that he could go that far off the deep end, but…could I really be sure? Wouldn't it be better to be proactive, the way my dad was doing with the locks? And like he'd said, the car's title was in my name, so I could do anything I wanted to with the vehicle. Maybe Jake could help me navigate the sale or trade-in of this car for something else.

I got my first taste of public notice when I was checking out at the store. I'd had an acquaintanceship with the checkout clerk, Amy, for years from all my shopping trips, so we knew each other casually-enough so for her to notice my absent ring and comment on it.

"Your ring didn't get damaged, did it? That thing is gorgeous."

"No, it didn't, and yes, it was."

"Was?"

"I gave it back to Edward the other day. We just decided that we'd grown apart more than we'd realized over the past couple years, and we'd be better off staying friends than getting married," I announced simply. It didn't really cover things at all, but I was going to try and keep my word not to bad-mouth Edward to the people around town.

I just nodded when Amy offered her sympathy. "Thanks. But it was probably better that we came to that realization before it was late in the game or even too late. I didn't want us pulling a celebrity 'oops'."

Amy, whose position at the checkout meant she'd seen all those tabloid headlines for the brief failed marriages of Britney Spears, Kim Kardashian, and others, couldn't help grinning for a moment. "True. Well, best of luck to both of you."

With a small smile of acknowledgment, I grabbed my bags and headed for home. I'd only just started assembling a tray of lasagna when the locksmith—a middle-aged man named Steve—arrived at the front door. He was obviously curious about why the police chief had called for an immediate lock change on his house, but had the manners not to ask about it. I pointed out all the doors he'd be working on, offered him a glass of water, and then left him to his work while I returned to mine.

"All done now, Miss Bella," he told me about an hour after starting.

"Thanks, Steve. Here's some lasagna for you to take home. I wrote the cooking instructions on the foil."

"Aw, you didn't have to do this."

"But I wanted to. I know my dad's grateful you could fit this in on short notice."

"My pleasure. And thank you."

Alone in the house, I finally had the time and privacy to call my mom. Whether I wanted to talk about this again or not, she needed to know what had changed in my life in the past few days.

"Hey, Mom."

"Bella! Sweetie! How are you?"

"I'm okay. Better, anyway."

"Uh-oh. What's wrong?"

"I've called things off with Edward. We aren't getting married."

"What? Bella, honey, you love him. Why would do you something like that?"

I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it in disbelief. Was it just my imagination, or was my own mother questioning what I'd done and making it sound like I was taking a path that was stupid or wrong? But when I put the phone back to my ear, I realized it wasn't my imagination at all. Renee was still going on in the same vein.

"He's always been your dream guy, Bella. Every couple is going to have a few hiccups, especially when they start planning their wedding. Mature adults don't just throw in the towel at the first problem. Why don't you try talking to him and see if you can't work things out?"

Anger erupted in my chest and exploded outward. "Talk to him? Work things out? He fucking _cheated_ on me, Renee-" I used her name deliberately, "-I caught him in his bed at his parents' house having unprotected sex with one of his college classmates—and not for the first time, apparently! I can't—I won't—pretend this didn't happen, and I can't trust that it won't happen again."

"But, Bella. Just think—he can give you the kind of life you deserve-"

"I am," I promised. "I'm thinking that I deserve to find someone I can trust. Someone who will put me first and not think that he can have a girl on the side and that I won't find out or care. I think it's about time I start thinking about what I want and what-who-is best for me. Clearly, that isn't Edward."

"He made a mistake, yes, but you should be the bigger person and let him prove that this mistake doesn't define him."

Fury engulfed me as every word my mother spoke only proved her shallowness and materialism.

"Forget this," I snapped. "I'm not some trophy wife or member of royalty to turn a blind eye to my husband's—or future husband's—infidelity. Edward had the choice between me and her, and he obviously chose her. I really can't believe what I'm hearing you say. I honestly thought that you'd choose me instead of him-after all, _I'm_ your child-but it's on you that you haven't. I'm not you, Renee—I'm not going to keep tabs on my husband 24-7 to make sure he stays in line. And for that matter, it's pretty ironic of you to tell me I need to give Edward a second chance and try to work things out with him, considering your own past. You walked out on Charlie without a backward glance or even the pretense of trying to fix whatever issues the two of you had. So given all of that, you have no grounds at all to be trying to give me any kind of relationship advice. I am done with this. If you want to talk to me—and not about Edward-you know where I am. If all you're going to do is to defend my traitor-ex, then don't bother calling." With that, I hit the 'end call' button on my phone with force. I probably should have known better than to hope she'd understand, but I'd allowed myself to forget my mother's materialistic nature and our often fractious relationship.

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Paul POV

I got funny looks from both my partners when I started packing up early.

"Hot date?" Jared asked with a grin.

"Ha ha. Bella invited me over for dinner and to talk with her dad about what happened."

"I'm guessing that you banging his little girl who-knows how many times the other night _won't_ be part of that conversation?"

"Hell, no! I like my balls right where they are."

"So you're allowing over an hour for a 5 minute drive to her dad's house because..." Sam's brows lifted.

"Because I stink and my clothes are covered in dirt and soaked with sweat."

"Good point," Sam waved his hand theatrically.

"Piss off. I'll come in early or stay late tomorrow to make up for this."

Sam brushed it off. "You better. Go on, get going." I started to do just that before his words stopped me. "Just…remember what I said earlier, okay?"

"I remember."

I set the cruise control for the drive home—last thing I wanted was for my new/future girlfriend's dad to pull me over for speeding right before the first official meeting. Less than 15 minutes after I made it home, I was showered, dressed in clean meet-the-dad clothes, and back in my truck again, heading for Bella's place.

"Hey," I greeted Bella when she opened the door for me, but stopped in my tracks when I got a good look at her face. "What's wrong?"

She almost fell into my arms and I moved us into the house, kicking the door shut behind us with a nudge from my foot—no sense giving the neighbors anything to talk about. The living room was right next to the front entry, so I walked her that way, and made sure Bella was settled on the couch. Then I crouched down in front of her. "What's wrong?" I repeated.

"I talked to my mom this afternoon," she whispered.

I was no Dr. Phil, but I didn't have to be to tell that she was upset. "And it didn't go very well," I surmised.

Bella gave a short little laugh that wasn't really a funny laugh. "It went as well as one of those botched bank robberies in a movie."

"Ouch. That bad, huh?" I winced in sympathy.

"Yeah. I suppose I should have expected it, but I always hope, you know? Even when I know better, I just can't help it."

"Want to talk about it?" I asked the question, half-hoping that Bella wouldn't take me up on the offer. Heavy emotional stuff wasn't really my thing to deal with. She did, though—like _I_ should have expected. If this was what she needed, then I'd just have to be able to handle it somehow, and view it as a way to prove I'd be there when she needed me. Figuring this might be a long story, I stood up from my crouch and then sat down on the couch next to Bella, trying to find the invisible line between too close and not close enough. Then I just listened in silence as Bella recapped her conversation with her mom.

"I didn't cry-I swear it," she finished up. "I'm done crying over that whole mess. I admit that I did want to throw something, but managed not to."

"Nothing wrong with using a round of destructiveness as a frustration outlet," I commented, knowing just what I was talking about here. Who knew how many hours I'd poured into either home or work construction/deconstruction projects over the years?

"I know. But then I would have had to clean it up, and gotten mad about _that_, so it just wasn't worth it."

"I get that. Sometimes you just have to distance yourself from some people for your own good."

"Toxic personalities," she agreed. "And I know how necessary that can be. It's just a little easier to give advice than to take it, even for professionals."

"Or even, especially for professionals. We think we know just what something-or someone-needs, and don't like hearing that we might be wrong."

I was happy when she giggled. "Found that out the hard way, did you?"

"Yeah. My dad. I saw what he was like and decided I wasn't going to be like him. Might be why I haven't really been into serious relationships before now. Hadn't met 'the one' and I always had a rule to be up-front and honest with any girl I was with on what would and wouldn't come from it. Never juggled girls, either." I was making sure to let her know that I was different from Cullen.

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Bella POV

It did make me feel good to hear Paul say that, but I knew that I'd have to see him prove it, too. No doubt Edward would have said the same sort of thing if I'd asked him about fidelity. Not that I thought Paul was lying, but it was hard not to feel a little cautious.

"I've always been a very committed person," I offered to Paul. "Picked a college and degree and stuck with both. Edward was the only guy I ever really dated. I got approached all the time at school, but I never gave those guys a second look. I had a boyfriend and that was that. I never regretted or second-guessed any of those decisions before, but now…it's a little hard not to wonder if anything would have been different if I'd switched schools too, or been more social. But at the same time, I loved the school I was at, I'm happy with my career choice, and I didn't feel anything for those other guys. Am I crazy? Bipolar?"

Paul laughed. "Nah. Natural to play the 'what if' game, especially with big decisions or with things that don't work out the way you expected. We see it sometimes with people when we're building their dream house. We'll get a client who wants something unrealistic for their house or budget, or they start asking about adding something in when we've gotten a project completed. Mostly we end up convincing them that they really did make the right choice."

"And the rest of the time?"

"If they've got the money, then we make sure they understand the added cost and time and give them what they want. But we're not greedy," he hurried to assure me. "We try to cover all the possible options during the design phase to try and avoid those late changes."

Paul changed the subject then. "So what did you get your degree in? I remember you saying you stayed at U-Dub for your program instead of transferring."

"Psychology. I want to be a counselor."

"You mean like in a loony bin?"

"No! That is one type of counseling, but there are a lot of others. I think I really want to go into career counseling—helping people figure out the best career options for themselves and how to get there with education or training."

"So, a school counselor?"

"Not exactly…" and I started explaining the overlap and the differences between the two. "I'm boring you, aren't I?" I asked after a few minutes.

"No. I like getting a peek at something you're so passionate about—besides me."

"Is this your idea of taking things slow?"

"Well, I haven't pushed you down and started stripping us both, have I?"

I just stared at Paul, trying to figure out if he was really serious, or if I was disappointed that he hadn't just done it anyway.

"And I really shouldn't have said that—I'm giving myself all the wrong kinds of ideas," he groaned. "Maybe my friends are right that this is crazy."

"Then we can all be crazy together. What are your friends like? I know _who_ they are, but I don't really know them personally."

"Sam, Jared, and I have been friends practically since we were born. We always did stuff together—like how Jake, Quil, and Embry have been. Starting a business together seemed natural. Sam handles the structural, Jared does the plumbing, and I run the electrical. Sam's wife, Leah, is great with the design aspects, and Jared's girl, Kim, helps out some with decorating when people ask about that."

"Wow, sounds like you've got the full package."

"It works well for us. Clients really seem to like it that we can handle just about everything ourselves and not have to send them to someone else."

"Do they know about…?" I trailed off, both wanting and not wanting to know the answer to the question.

"Sam and Jared do," Paul admitted. "Guess I was a bit distracted this morning and it came out."

"And…?"

"Jared gave us two thumbs up. He and Kim had a whirlwind romance, so he's the last person to knock the instant attraction thing. Sam…is a little more cautious, but like I said before, he did watch his sister go through a bad relationship and breakup. Just doesn't want anyone getting hurt."

"Sounds like you've got good friends." I found it a little interesting how Paul's two best friends had different reactions to what he'd shared with them. I couldn't blame Sam for being concerned with how fast this had happened—after all, _I_ was just as concerned myself.

"They are. We ought to all get together sometime. I want you to meet them, and for them to meet you." Paul's dark eyes lit up with a sudden idea. "I could even ask Sam for Emily's contact info. If you want it, that is. She could maybe help you with…stuff. Be someone to talk to…"

"I'd like that. I've got some girlfriends I can talk to, but Angela and Jess didn't move back here after college, and they really haven't been through anything like this."

"I'll ask Sam." Paul twitched, stilled, and then moved a hand to tilt my face upward. My eyes automatically drifted closed as he leaned down and gave me a gentle kiss. After pulling back, Paul tugged me against his side and my head rested against his shoulder. The conversation shifted to tonight's menu—thankfully, Paul loved Italian food—and to our favorite foods and those we couldn't stand. Despite the food conversation, I completely forgot about putting the lasagna in the oven until my dad walked in the front door. I bolted to the kitchen to take care of that, and behind me heard Paul say, "Nice to meet you, Chief Swan. I'm Paul Lahote."

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AN: I'm so sorry that this has taken 4 months to get written and posted. Didn't intend for this to happen. Major writer's block and real life are to blame. Had more planned for this chapter, but I think we'll do this for now, and save the Charlie parts for the next installment.

Janmary: Sorry I couldn't reply directly, but you've got PMs disabled. Thanks so much for the compliments. Thrilled that you found this story and liked it. You have a point about the FF site not really giving much clue on how often an author updates. Unlike some authors, I don't have a set schedule of a certain day of the week/etc. when I post new chapters, nor do I complete a story before I begin posting it. If my muse cooperates, I can sometimes turn out a chapter very quickly, while other times it takes longer. My policy is to post a new chapter the second I've finished writing it and run a quick spell-check. Unlike my other stories, I started this one as a one-shot without having any plan of what was going to happen afterward. But…good news is that the things I figured out for last chapter have (I think) helped me to finally get something of an idea of the general path things will take as this story progresses. Hopefully this will help me to update more frequently—but no guarantees. If you put the story on alert, you'll get a notice when new chapters post. Thanks again, and stay tuned.

LuckyStar0489: Congrats for being review #200 for this story on FF.

i3twilight: Glad you've enjoyed this. Sorry this took a while. Real life plus writer's block…

Guest: Glad you like this. Hope you enjoyed this new installment.


	8. Meet the Chief

AN: Gulp. Effusive apologies to you all for not having posted an update on this story for five months. I feel terrible. A lot of writer's block, plus getting unstuck on the other story. And pretty much the entire fall semester at work was insanely crazy this year. But I've promised to never permanently abandon a story, and so have worked this up for you. Hope it was worth the long wait. Enjoy.

And thank you to the person(s) who nominated "Revenge is a Dish Best Served Hot" for a Fandom Choice Award! It's up for Best All-Human Story. Paul and Bella would love your votes by January 3, 2014.

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Paul POV

I stood up when Bella's dad walked in, grateful that he hadn't arrived a few minutes earlier and seen me all cozy on his couch with his daughter. I hadn't been kidding to the guys that I wanted to keep my balls right where they were.

"Chief Swan. I'm Paul Lahote."

"Figured that. Bella said you were coming over for dinner."

"Glad to be here. Some folks down on the rez have raved about her food for years-and then they absolutely refused to share anything she made for them. I'll finally get to find out what all the talk is about."

"She's good," Charlie Swan agreed. "Some people said she should do it for a living, but she just told them that she wanted cooking to stay fun, and not be something that she _had_ to do to bring in a paycheck."

"I get that. A few years back, I was rehabbing my place at night after working days at a construction site. Sometimes, the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was to pick up a tool and get something done."

He nodded. "On that note, you mind offering your opinion on something for me? House needs some work and I'm not sure what my options are."

"Sure." I started to follow him, figuring we were heading for the electrical panel or something like that. Instead, he led the way outside. "Just so you know, I'm just the electrical expert on our team. Sam's the guy for anything structural."

"Yeah, I know that. House isn't in that bad of a shape. I just wanted us somewhere that Bella can't overhear anything. What the hell is going on?"

"What did she tell you so far?" I hedged, trying to figure out what he knew already and what he didn't.

"I didn't figure you for someone who'd try to pull bullshit like that," Charlie retorted.

My denial was quick and automatic. "I'm not. If there's stuff she left out from what she told you earlier, then Bella has the right to tell you when she's ready to. I'm not going to step on her toes or cut her out on that."

I got an approving nod for what I'd just said. "Okay, I can respect that," Charlie hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. "What Bella told me was that she walked in on Cullen...having sex with someone he went to college with. She yelled at him and then drove down to La Push to think, and ended up staying the night. He followed her down there, and then came here this morning after she came home. So what can _you_ tell me?"

"I found her up on the tall cliff on the rez, bawling her eyes out. She was pretty much a wreck, and I didn't think she needed to be back out on the road, so I took her to my place. Figured the least I could do was give her one night before she had to face everything."

"And out of the goodness of your heart, you take home a stranger just because she was upset?" he was clearly dubious.

"What can I say? I've got a soft heart," I quipped. "Okay, yeah, I did know who she was. We might not have been friends growing up, but I knew of her."

"So why not take her to Jake's place, or another of her friends down there?"

"Didn't think of it, I guess. Neither did she. Jake did stop by this morning, and was pretty pissed off on her behalf-enough so that if Cullen had shown up on Jake's porch last night, there would have been a call placed to Emergency Services, at the very least, and to the police and county coroner at the worst."

"And you didn't want to do the same?"

"Did I want to beat the shit out of him? Sure. Won't lie about that. But I stopped trying to solve problems with my fists back in high school. Now, if he'd tried to come inside my house or bother her, I might have forgotten the fact that I'm an adult and a business owner—didn't have to, as it turned out. He just stood there like an idiot when she tried to give him the ring back. I did slam the door in his face, though," I smirked at the memory.

"So you just took my daughter to your place, slammed the door in her ex's face, and gave her an empty bed to sleep in?"

"My house has a guest room that I offered to her. Bella ended up sleeping on the couch, though; guess she couldn't relax enough to fall asleep on her own and went out there to watch some TV."

"So you found her there this morning?"

"I did find her out there," I agreed, "but I'm not sure what time it was. I don't always pay much attention to the clocks. It was before Jake showed up, though." Everything I was saying was true-it just wasn't all of the truth. Chief Swan seemed to realize that, too.

"Did you have sex with my daughter, Paul? Did you take advantage of her?" His face was getting red, and his hand was flexing near his hip where his gun normally sat.

"I know I've got a reputation, Chief; and it's one I've earned-I won't bullshit you by trying to pretend otherwise. But I've never been a guy who would talk about any girl I was with-except to my two best friends. I think I'm entitled to keep my private business exactly that. I'd also say that Bella's equally deserving of privacy, especially now, when _her_ private business will be the talk of the town. But I have never once taken advantage of a woman, and I'm sure as hell not about to start now."

"You'd better not," he warned me. "You hurt my little girl that that _bastard_ Cullen did, and it'll take the best trackers your tribe has a very _very_ long time to find your remains.

My reply was sober and sincere. "I don't want to hurt her. If I ever do, I'll deserve whatever you give me."

"Okay," and Charlie Swan held out his hand for us to shake on it. "We're going to need to head back inside soon, but before we do…anything you want to share about what you noticed about him yesterday, or anything?"

"Well, I think he was a complete idiot for bringing the other woman here to his parents' house while Bella was out of town. And to still have her around that close to Bella coming back? It's like he almost wanted to get caught. It's some kind of twisted, cheating on your fiancée with a girlfriend, then leaving the girlfriend to go track down the fiancée when she caught him. I didn't think about it until this morning, until Jake mentioned Bella's car having Lo-Jack on it. But that's how Jake figures Cullen tracked her down—no reason to think she would be with me since we didn't really know each other. Gonna bust him on it?"

"Can't. Wish I could, though," the frustration was clear in his tone. "But she got the house key back from him and we got the locks changed today, so he'd better not think about coming here again."

"Got an alarm system?"

"Never needed one. Who'd be stupid enough to try and rob the police chief's house?" The look on his face said that he was at least thinking about the idea now.

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We went back inside, but headed in different directions. I followed the smell of the food into the kitchen and Bella's dad went to check sports scores on TV.

"Need any help?"

"Not really-well, I guess you could help me make the salad if you want to."

"Sure."

She handed me a knife and pointed to the carrots and celery drying on a towel. I got to work chopping them up.

"Not bad," Bella judged. "I admit I wondered if I'd need to pull out the first aid kit."

"Hah. Nah, I've been in construction long enough to know how to be around sharp blades and still keep my fingers attached."

She watched me closely for a minute until satisfied that I really did know what I was doing. So Bella left me to it and returned to prepping a loaf of garlic bread to go into the oven. The radio was playing softly in the background—a country station, which surprised me—and I started listening to the words.

_And he don't know_

_That I dug my key into the side  
>of his pretty little souped up 4 wheel drive,<br>carved my name into his leather seats,  
>I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights,<br>slashed a hole in all 4 tires...  
>Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.<em>

I might've saved a little trouble for the next girl,  
>'cause the next time that he cheats...<br>Oh, you know it won't be on me!

No... not on me

"Getting any ideas?"

"No," she snorted. "Cop's daughter, remember? Although, it is a nice thought."

"What's a nice thought?" Charlie asked, startling us both.

Bella pointed to the radio and her father listened to a verse and chorus of the song. "Make sure it's a thought, only, Bella. I don't want to have to haul you in on charges, okay?"

"Sure thing, Dad. Besides, I think it would affect the resale value if I keyed the car he bought me."

"What are you talking about?"

"I want to look into selling my car and getting something else. He gave it to me, so I can do what I want with it, but I definitely don't want to keep it now." Bella turned away to slide the bread into the oven and check the status of an amazing lasagna. Satisfied, she looked back at her father. "I'm thinking of asking Jake for some advice on how to handle this one and what some good replacement options are."

"Do you think you're maybe rushing into this a little bit, Bells?" he wondered.

"Is there really a reason to wait?" she countered. "I know I don't want to keep the car, both because of him having given it to me, and him using the GPS to track me down last night."

"Call the company," Charlie urged his daughter. "There ought to be a way to remove his access rights; change a password or something. I don't want you getting fleeced by some dealer because you're moving too fast to really think everything through."

"I won't rush a new decision, Dad. I promise. And if Jake helps me, then you know he won't steer me wrong with the next car. I'll try calling the GPS company either after dinner or in the morning, okay?"

He nodded approval. "Food almost done?"

"Just a few more minutes. Let's get things on the table and then the lasagna and bread will be ready to come out of the oven."

Bella was as good as her word on the timing, and the rez gossip was just as accurate concerning the quality of her cooking.

"This is incredible," I announced, around a mouthful of bread, and with my large helping of lasagna already half gone.

"Thanks. It's an old favorite recipe of ours," Bella replied. "It's a nice change from all the fish recipes I have to use," she teased her father, who was a well-known fishing companion of several of La Push's tribal elders.

"So what are you doing these days, Paul?" Charlie changed the subject.

"Our company-Sam's, Jared's, and mine-is building a new house over on Callawah Way. We've been making good progress, so we ought to be done by the end of this year, unless the weather goes completely south on us."

We talked for a while longer about the construction project, with Bella asking a few questions about what I was doing on it that I was more than happy to answer. Over the rest of dinner, and a fruit salad dessert, the conversation drifted to sports and then to the interview Bella had been on before everything had gone to hell in her personal life. It made my gut clench to realize that she was waiting to hear back on a job in Texas of all places.

"It will be the end of this week at the earliest before I can expect to hear back, and it could easily be next week. I know they had—and have—a lot of interviews scheduled for this opening, so I have no idea how much of a chance I really have. Guess I'll just have to wait and see."

Even though I didn't want her to face the rejection of not getting a good job that she had to be well-qualified for, I still somehow hoped that Bella wouldn't get the job. Taking things slow was one thing, having her move halfway across the country was something else.

"You did all you could, Bells," her dad's moustache twitched. "Out of your hands now."

"I know. If it's meant to be, it'll happen; if it's not in the cards for me, then it won't happen. I almost hope they won't make me an offer, though," she admitted.

"How come?" Both Charlie and I spoke at the same time.

"I just think it would be too much of a reminder of what just happened. I went to that interview thinking that it could be a good place for both me and for Edward. Then I come home from it and find…what I found. I don't want my job to be a daily jolt back to that."

It was with great reluctance that I announced my need to head home once we were done eating. "Morning will come awful early, and I've got to get enough sleep. Can't risk making electrical mistakes just because I'm sleep-deprived."

Bella walked me to the door, handing me a bag with helpings of lasagna, salad, and bread inside. "I know it probably won't work for your lunch tomorrow, but you could have it for dinner."

"Thanks. You didn't have to do that, so thanks." Knowing that her dad was close by, but not caring, I leaned down and claimed Bella's lips in a light, yet long, kiss. "Talk to you soon, okay?"

"Sure. And, Paul?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for everything."

The food went into my fridge when I got home and I made myself tackle the unwashed dishes before heading to my bedroom. It was a bit of a mess, but I didn't really want to deal with it tonight. I did at least toss the dirty clothes into the laundry hamper. That was when I noticed a scrap of torn lacy fabric on my floor. Bending down to pick it up, I realized it was the remnants of Bella's panties from last night—the ones I'd ripped off her when she hadn't removed them fast enough. Bringing them up to my nose, I inhaled deeply and caught the lingering fragrance of her arousal. I barely remembered to set my alarm before falling into bed. Perhaps not surprisingly given this discovery and the traces of Bella's scent still clinging to my sheets, I was soon jerking off to thoughts of what we'd done here, and what I wanted us to do here next time.

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AN: Looks like this chapter was all Paul. We'll see Bella again next chapter, and maybe some other people as well. Who knows?

**Song lyrics mentioned in this chapter are from Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats". The song/lyrics/music video were the inspirational prompt that got this story started.


	9. Next Step

Guest: Glad to be back and sorry again for having been MIA for so long. Happy you enjoyed the chapter. Paul is definitely something. Wonder if I can steal him for myself? (Probably not.) LOL.

Guest(2): Thanks for reviewing. Glad you liked it.

Guest (from ch.1, Nov. 2014): Thank you. Happy you like the story. Sorry for taking so long to update. Real life, and all. But I've promised never to permanently abandon a story, and I won't. Hope this update is worth the wait.

Lenniem: Thanks. I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out also. Now, I just need to get and keep my inspiration...

AN: Effusive apologies for YET ANOTHER long delay between chapters. Never meant to take over a year to add another chapter to this story. Same old, same old in terms of excuses: still super-busy and still dealing with writer's block. But as always I will keep plugging away. I know I promised my "Jagged" readers that this would likely be updated earlier this month, but I had a pretty crappy weekend right after making that promise and I just wasn't in a frame of mind to write.

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Bella POV

I woke up in the morning with a curious sense of disconnect before everything that had happened over the past two days flooded back. I'd caught Edward cheating on me. I'd run into Paul Lahote and had sex with him-repeatedly. I'd broken things off with Edward more than once and given him the ring back. My mom had reacted to my news with her usual lack of sensitivity, and my dad had met Paul.

After a quick shower, I fixed some breakfast and sat down to start figuring out my day. I was going to have to call the car's-somebody-and get Edward barred from accessing the GPS information. I'd also need to touch base with Jake and ask if he could help me figure out what to do with said car. Probably that was going to involve taking it to Port Angeles or Seattle to sell or trade in-it was too nice of a car to dump off at the small used dealership in Forks-and then figure out what I'd be getting to replace it. Also high on my list was getting myself a doctor's appointment to be checked out. I could hope that Edward still had the decency to not have unprotected sex with me if he knew he had gotten something from another woman-but then again, I had expected that he would have the decency not to be in a position to catch something from someone else to begin with. He'd clearly failed on the one point, so it would be stupid of me to make any assumptions on the other point. I could make an appointment with the family practitioner here in town...but I knew that one of my old high school classmates worked in that office now, and her gossiping tendencies wouldn't be able to resist spreading the word that the police chief's engaged-well, formerly engaged-daughter had just come in for STD testing. And as I was trying to hold to the promise I'd made to Edward that I'd keep our breakup civil, going to a doctor out of town would be better. I could always go back the doctor I'd used in Seattle, but that would require an all-day trip and she was usually hard to get a quick appointment with even with plenty of advance notice. There was sure to be an emergency clinic in Port Angeles that I could use today.

With a plan for my day now in place, I got to work on my to-do list. A call to Jake filled him in on my car plans now that they were more definite. He asked me a few questions about things I did and didn't want in a car and said he'd get back to me with some options.

Next on my list was the car company. After the usual pass-around that accompanies any customer service call, I got transferred to yet another department that promised to help me with my problem.

"Hello, Bella, my name is Stephanie. I see that you're having an issue with your car's GPS unit. Is that right?"

"Sort-of," and I began my explanation yet again. "The car was a gift from my boyfriend, who later became my fiance. Our relationship just ended and he isn't taking it well. I want to remove his access to the car's GPS information, since I'm pretty sure he's already used it once to track me down-that's something that is very concerning to my friends as well as my police chief father. I can get a legal order if I need to, but I really want to get this taken care of immediately, for my own peace of mind and well-being."

"Absolutely. I completely understand. Let me pull up the GPS unit's information..." keys clicked in the background. "Miss, you're right to be addressing this situation: I see in the account activity log that the GPS location of your car was accessed two days ago."

My heart began to pound with the confirmation that Edward had basically stalked me the night I'd broken up with him.

Stephanie was still talking. "Bella, I'm bringing my supervisor in on this call as well." She did so and quickly explained my situation to him.

"Bella, my name is Malik. We are going to get this addressed for you. I'm having Stephanie deactivate that GPS access log-in, so he won't be able to use it again. We'll also set up an alert on the account that only you can verbally authorize any new log-ins. I don't see one set up for you-did you use the existing login?"

"No. I'm not a car expert-I didn't even remember that the car had anything like this until my mechanic friend mentioned it. My ex must have set the access account up when he bought the car for me. Can you-did he use the GPS tracking before this week, or can you tell?" If he had, it would just confirm even more strongly to me that Edward wasn't a good person now and hadn't been for a while, if he'd been using the car feature to make sure I was where I said I was or else to facilitate him sneaking Tanya into town when I wasn't there.

There came a clicking of keys over the phone line. "It looks like there were a few access events right after the account was initially set up-what we would view as being standard times of a new user learning the system. But other than that, it does not appear that the tracking was used before this week. Even so, I would recommend getting your own access account set up. And I'd also recommend talking to your local law enforcement so that they're aware of what happened."

"I already have-my father is the police chief in town. Can you set up the new log-in for me?"

"Certainly."

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Paul POV

When I got to work, the guys checked me out pretty obviously.

"You're not my type," I snorted.

"Just checking to see if your balls are still attached," retorted Sam.

"Definitely none of your business. But, yes, my balls are right where they ought to be."

"Chief didn't try to take them for banging his little girl?" Jared leaned in

"Nope. Part of him might've wanted to, but right now he hates Cullen worse than anything I might do."

"You lucked out there, my friend." Both my partners nodded.

"And don't I know it. Hey, Sam, you mind giving me Emily's number to pass on to Bella? She could probably use someone to talk to who's been through this kind of shit."

Sam nodded. "Sure." He jotted his sister's phone number on a scrap of paper and handed it over to me. I pulled out my phone and texted the number to Bella.

**If you need to talk, Sam's sister Emily knows what it's like. 360-555-2398. xo Paul.**

I felt like a middle school dork putting the hug and kiss at the end of my message, but if Bella liked it I'd suck it and endure. Good deed done, I started to put my phone away so I could focus my mind to the tasks we needed to get done today. Before I slid the phone into my pocket, it vibrated with a new text message.

**Thanks. xo Bella.**

The grin that flashed across my face was one I couldn't quell, and didn't try to. That Bella had reciprocated the ending of my text thrilled me a heck of a lot more than it ought to have. A few days ago, I'd barely known who she was. Now I was sending her texts with sappy endearments, meeting her dad, and wanting to do things to and with Bella that might really put my balls at risk if the chief ever found out. I hoped that Emily could help, if Bella decided to call her. The quicker Cullen could be banished from the picture, the faster those fantasies of mine might start coming true.

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Bella POV

I waited until my dad had left for work before I headed to Port Angeles. The hour-long drive passed with me trying to think of what the appointment might be like and what I'd say.

"Isabella?"

I stood when the nurse called my name—I'd decided to use the full name I didn't like rather than my preferred nickname. After the standard weigh-in, I was shown into an exam room and handed one of those embarrassing hospital gowns to change into. Then I had to wait for the nurse to return. I hated the annual well-woman exam with a passion in the normal run of things. It was sure to be even less fun having an unscheduled repeat exam only a few months later.

"Hello, Isabella. I'm Kathy. What brings you in today?"

"I—I just dumped my fiancé after I caught him cheating on me. He didn't use a condom and…"

"So you're here for a full-panel STD screening?"

"Yes."

"We are here to help you and get you the answers you need. Let's get this underway. Isabella, I'll take samples to check for chlamidia, gonorrhea, and HPV, then do a blood draw to test for HIV, syphilis, hepatitis, and genital herpes."

"I looked up the symptoms for some of those diseases and I don't have any. That's a good sign, right?"

Nurse Kathy sighed. "Truthfully, all it would prove is that if you have contracted something that you're not in an active stage at the moment. And some STDs, like herpes, can be totally without symptoms. The tests are the only way to know for sure if you were given anything."

What happens if—"

"We'll take things one step at a time. First thing is to get these samples taken. Then we'll run the tests, and you'll be contacted within three days with the results. If anything is positive, someone will talk it all through with you and we'll move forward with treatment."

"Three days?"

"Yes. We'll send the samples out to the lab today and get the results back no later than 3 days after that."

After my appointment, my resolve to treat Edward courteously was strained almost to the breaking point. I didn't tend to get angry, but I was furious now. I felt humiliated that I'd had to undergo this invasive and embarrassing medical procedure, and irritated that I now had to wait until the end of the week to get the results. I hadn't known what STD testing involved, but had somewhat naively assumed that I'd know the answers today; instead, I had a three-day wait to get the test results back from the lab. So the nagging uncertainty lingered, as I waited to know whether or not Edward have given me a parting gift to our relationship.

Going back to Forks right now didn't appeal to me; I opted to find a quiet café to have lunch and think. I really needed someone to talk to who understood where I was at, so I pulled out my phone and called the number Paul had texted me this morning.

"Hello?" a female voice answered.

"Hi, is this Emily?"

"Yes. Who's this?"

"My name is Bella. Paul Lahote asked your brother Sam for your number to pass along to me."

"You're one of Paul's friends?"

Was I? Did being lovers one night make us friends? Well, we'd decided to try and see, so, "Yes, we met recently, but we've known of each other for a while, I guess. I've known Jake Black and his friends for years. My dad's the police chief in Forks."

"Oh…I think I know who you are, then. You got engaged to Dr. Cullen's son this summer."

"And just got un-engaged this past weekend. Hence why Paul asked Sam for your number."

"He cheated on you?" Emily guessed.

"Bingo. I came home from a job interview last weekend to find him banging a college classmate in his bedroom."

"Ouch. At least I didn't walk in on my ex with someone else. I just found pictures and text messages on his cell phone. "

"How do you get over something like this?"

"One day at a time. It's a roller coaster ride, I won't lie about that. Some days will be better than others. One day you'll want to forgive him, the next day you'll hate his guts through the nine circles of Hell."

"Today would be one of those days. I went in for STD tests," I confessed.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," she assured me. "But it's smart of you to find out for sure."

"Thanks. I want to know, but…it makes me so angry, you know? It's not just that he cheated on me—I mean, that would be bad enough—but having to wait for days just to know if he gave me something because he was with her…? I promised him I'd keep things civil, but right now I just hate him for putting me through all this pain."

"Exactly."

"Would you like to get together sometime?"

"Sure. What works for you?"

Emily and I made plans to meet for lunch tomorrow. I picked at my lunch, then decided to distract myself with some retail therapy in the downtown bookstore. Later that afternoon, I was in the middle of dinner prep when Paul called me.

"Hey, babe. How was your day?"

"It was okay. I went to the doctor and talked to Sam's sister."

"You okay?" concern filled Paul's voice.

"I hope so. I'll know in a few days."

"You want me to kill that creep?" Anger mixed with a chilling determination.

"I thought you were trying to make a good impression with my dad?" I tried to lighten the mood.

"Exactly."

"I appreciate that thought—really. Part of me even agrees with you. But we aren't going to let him ruin our lives, right?"

"Nope," agreed Paul. "Got too many plans for you."

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AN: Again, I'm sorry this took 13 months to happen, but I hope you enjoy this. Will love to know what you think.


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